Commercial Cleanout

Lil Greenhouse Grill Escapes - Getting Evicted

Lil Greenhouse bounces back and prepared to develop The rental conflict between the Lil Greenhouse and St. John Institutional Missionary Baptist Church, its landlord has been finally settled after experiencing up to a year of uncertainty if the Overtown location of the establishment will be abandoned.

On Tuesday during the lunch rush hour, Nicole Gates was in charge of waiting the tables in the crowded Lil Greenhouse Grill as she welcomed both old and new customers with a smile. Karim Bryant and Gates, the joint owner of the restaurant in Overtown are to be evicted two weeks earlier. They had to request for assistance in paying their bills as well as the rent during the summer a year ago.

Gates stated that they were grateful for the actions of the community in providing support for their business.

St John Institutional Missionary Baptist Church, the landlord of Lil Greenhouse Grill, began the eviction process because they lagged in paying their rent.

The courtroom has to be visited three times before reaching an agreement and on the 22nd of October, the total amount in debt, by Lil Greenhouse was estimated as $42,790.33.

Gates referenced an occurrence on a Monday afternoon that they were a startup business and experienced a difficult summer where the business was very slow and fought towards bouncing back.

Things were so difficult that Gates had to request for donations on social media. A Go FundMe account was set up on the 22nd Of November 2018 to raise about $15,000. Gates put an end to the campaign, once the $2,710 was achieved on Nov. 29.

Gates granted a gift in the form of a certificate to individuals who donated as the donation helped them achieve success and they appreciated the support given by the community.

She stated that people are currently using it.

Gates indicated that the funds that were raised would be used to cover for the charges they owed the landlord and payment for December which led to a zero balance into the beginning of 2019.

The lending section of a Non-profit Community Capital Corp known as Urban Philanthropies offered Gates a $15,000 loan.

Phil Bacon from Urban Philanthropies stated that he was happy to provide any assistance because the startup has the possibility of being successful. Training is granted, to business owners by the non-profit on how to successfully run a business as well as those who intend to scale their business.

Bacon stated that offering a loan to Lil Greenhouse establishes the objectives of the Nonprofit organization and would love to provide support for communities similar to Liberty City and Overtown and provide access to capital.

Bacon indicated that by September, the bridge loan was fully repaid by Lil Greenhouse but a lawsuit was filed by the landlord for the collection of rent.

Pastor James Adams, the Senior Pastor of St John that the church patiently waited for the payment of the rented space. The building Lil Greenhouse occupied was acquired from Michael Simkins, a developer by January 2017. Basically, the church just accepted a tenant they never wanted.

The church started the eviction process as soon as rents were no longer paid.

Adams stated that the funds for the rent have been raised, but was never paid, and it was difficult to find where a lease or rent-agreement will not be paid. He continued that this cannot be done anywhere even though they struggled to refuse them into the structure, but the fund would have supported the mission of the church which was the right idea, business-wise.

Considering the settlement deal, $12,935 was deposited into the court registry by Lil Greenhouse which would be provided to the Church on Tuesday leaving a $29,855.33 balance but as from Nov 15, $1,658.53 will still be paid by Lil Greenhouse every month.

Given that the eviction situation has been put to an end, Gates can look forward to fulfilling to the community of Overtown, the promise of employment opportunity, excellent food, and an amazing reputation.

Eviction Cleanout Services of South Florida help landlords empty out apartments when tenants of evicted. We clean the home, repair it and paint the home to get it ready to be sold or rented.

At ECS we can do a little or we can do a lot.

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