Greene v. Jackson
| Decision Date | 23 December 1925 |
| Docket Number | 556. |
| Citation | 130 S.E. 732,190 N.C. 789 |
| Parties | GREENE v. JACKSON. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Appeal from Superior Court, Buncombe County; Oglesby, Judge.
Action by Ronald Greene against L. B. Jackson for damages for breach of contract. Judgment for defendant on demurrer, and plaintiff appeals. Error.
A demurrer ore tenus admits all of the allegations of the complaint.
"that on or about the 21st day of December, 1922, the defendant entered into an agreement with the plaintiff whereby the said defendant was to lease to the plaintiff the thirteenth story of a certain building, which defendant was to erect on the south side of Pack Square, in the city of Asheville, county and state aforesaid, said lease to run for a period of five years from the date of the completion of said building; that the consideration for said lease, according to said agreement, was to be a yearly rental equal to 16 per cent. of the cost of erecting the thirteenth story of said building provided that said annual rental should not exceed 16 per cent. of $5,000, which, for the purpose of fixing said rental, was stipulated as the maximum cost of erecting said thirteenth story; that said contract and agreement between the plaintiff and defendant was reduced to writing, and it is embodied in a certain letter of the date of December 21 1922, from the defendant to the plaintiff, and a certain letter from the plaintiff, of the date of December 23, 1922 to the defendant, and pursuant to the agreement made between plaintiff and defendant, the letters referred to, and the design of plaintiff of said thirteenth story, and the written specifications prepared by plaintiff for said building in accordance with said design, and which were adopted and used by defendant in procuring bids for the erection of same including said thirteenth floor, and in which said specifications is the following provision relating to said thirteenth floor:
And the defendant awarded a contract for the construction of said building and said thirteenth floor according to said design, plans, and specifications so prepared and furnished by plaintiff to defendant and including the aforesaid provision, and the defendant prosecuted the work of constructing said Jackson building and said thirteenth floor to completion in substantial accordance with said design, plans, and specifications of plaintiff, and on or about June 26, 1924, when said thirteenth floor was practically completed, the defendant further duly ratified the contract so entered into between him and the plaintiff by letter dated on that day; that said contemplated building was erected by the defendant, L. B. Jackson, and is now fully completed, and said thirteenth story so agreed to be leased by the defendant to the plaintiff as aforesaid was constructed for the occupancy of the plaintiff pursuant to said agreement according to the plan and design agreed upon, so that said thirteenth story could be occupied by the plaintiff as a studio, or as offices in connection with plaintiff's practice as an architect; that, upon the completion of said building and of said thirteenth story thereof, the plaintiff requested the defendant to execute a lease and deliver possession of said thirteenth story of said premises, according to the contract and agreement hereinbefore mentioned; but the defendant, in violation of his contract and agreement as aforesaid, failed and refused to execute said lease and deliver possession of said premises. Plaintiff alleges damage."
The letters are as follows:
"Asheville, N. C., Dec. 21, 1922.
Mr. Ronald Greene, Asheville, N. C.--Dear Sir: Confirming verbal conversation, I agree to erect for you on the roof of my new office building which I am going to erect on South Pack Square a studio for your offices. Said studio not to cost me over five thousand dollars, and you to take same on a five-year lease at 16 per cent. yearly of the cost; you to erect same.
Yours very truly, L. B. Jackson.
December 23, 1922.
Mr. L. B. Jackson, Asheville, N. C.--Dear Sir: I hereby accept your proposal to erect on the roof of your office building, to be erected on South Pack Square, a studio for my offices according to my design, the cost of which shall not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000), with the understanding that I shall have full access to the accounts and methods of determining said cost; and I further agree to lease this addition at the rate of 16 per cent. yearly of the cost to you to erect same.
Yours very truly, Ronald Greene.
Asheville, N. C., June 26, 1924.
Mr. Ronald Greene, Asheville, N. C.--Dear Sir: Mr. L. L. Merchant has just showed me a letter which you wrote him, dated June 24th, in which you requested that he furnish you with a detailed statement of the cost of thirteenth floor, which you are to occupy. It has been absolutely impossible for the foreman to keep the cost of this floor separate, as the men have been working back and forth in such a way that no one could keep the labor and material separate. I would suggest that we have Mr. Merchant and some other reliable contractor to estimate the labor and material used on this floor, and in this manner you and I can arrive at what would be a fair and reasonable basis. I feel sure that we will have no trouble in getting together for I know that I do not want anything but what is right, and I feel sure that this is the way you feel about it.
Yours very truly, L. B. Jackson."
The court rendered the following judgment "This cause coming on to be heard before his honor, John M. Oglesby, judge presiding, and a jury, and being heard, and, after the selection and...
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