Gjinovefa “Gina” Luari, a celebrated Hartford-based entrepreneur with a fast-growing roster of restaurants in Connecticut and beyond, is facing a lawsuit by a prominent landlord who says she owes $53,000 for six months of back rent at a downtown Hartford location hosting one of her flagship Place 2 Be restaurants.
Luari contends she withheld rent because the building management at 5 Constitution Plaza has failed to file an insurance claim for repeated flooding that forced closures, lost inventory and repair expenses.
Launched in Hartford, Luari’s Place 2 Be restaurants are known for their hip, fun and social-media friendly atmosphere. She has since branched out to other states and additional restaurant concepts. She has opened five Place 2 Be restaurants since 2016, including one at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. Last year, Luari launched a raw seafood restaurant in Hartford.
Luari has six more restaurants in various stages of development, including new Place 2 Be restaurants in Dallas and Las Vegas.
She is being sued by the landlord of a downtown Hartford location, a 5,429-square-foot space at the bottom of a 12-story apartment tower at 5 Constitution Plaza. The suit by 5CP Master Tenant LLC claims Luari owed $43,462 as of Nov. 1.
That’s now up to $53,000, said Christopher Reilly, president of Lexington Property Management LLC, which is managing the building.
“I think she’s a very talented young entrepreneur,” Reilly said. “I wish her all the best, but there are some real basics in business you have to attend to. And she’s got a lot on her plate right now. Paying rent is one of those things you have to attend to.”
Reilly said Luari’s failure to produce documentation of flood-related damages, despite repeated requests, makes it impossible to file an insurance claim.
“Lawsuits, for us, are an absolute last resort,” Reilly said.
Luari said she can’t produce a receipt for lost business due to the flooding-related closure. She said she had asked Lexington to file a claim so her business could move through a verification process with an insurance adjuster.
Luari said her business at 5 Constitution Plaza has experienced repeated stormwater flooding, with the most severe coming in August. She has videos showing fast-moving water in her basement and industrial dehumidifiers inside her restaurant.
“This matter arose from flooding that impacted multiple businesses in downtown Hartford and has been turned over to our attorneys who have already reached out to opposing counsel,” Luari said in a statement released separately Wednesday, which cited repeated flooding concerns dating back to 2022.
The limited liability company that owns 5 Constitution Plaza traces back to New York-based developer Joseph Klaynberg and a partnership of prolific Hartford businessman Alan Lazowski and the late Martin Kenny, a prominent developer who died last year.
Lazowski may be best known as the head of national parking giant Laz Parking, but he has built an extensive portfolio of office and apartment buildings. Many of those were developed or purchased with Kenny, a longtime business partner and friend.
Kenny was known for transformative apartment projects in Hartford and beyond. He also founded Lexington Property Management. He died in September of a heart attack.
Joseph Klaynberg was a partner in the transformation of several distressed downtown Hartford buildings into more than 500 apartments. Klaynberg and a former partner, New York-based Girona Ventures, got their start in Hartford in 2012 with the purchase of a long-vacant hotel at 5 Constitution Plaza, which they turned into 193 apartments above ground-floor retail spaces.
Klaynberg said he was not consulted prior to the filing of the lawsuit and he is disappointed it has gotten to this point. He praised Luari as a brave and dynamic tenant willing to take a risk in a property at the corner of the downtown. Klaynberg said Luari was able to build a destination that consistently attracted crowds to an area with low foot traffic despite repeated adversity.
Klaynberg also said his records indicate Luari had paid rent up through September, at least.
He noted the downtown Place 2 Be opened right as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and managed to attract patrons even as other venues went largely empty. The restaurant has since recovered from a sprinkler break, fire and flooding, Klaynberg said. He believed the flooding was caused by overwhelmed storm drains. Throughout these challenges,
Luari was consistently current on her rent payments, he said.
Klaynberg said he hopes to keep Luari as a tenant at Constitution Plaza and will continue looking to her as a potential tenant at other properties.
“She’s just a great person,” Klaynberg said. “We always look to her as a potential tenant.”
The Klaynberg family’s ventures in Hartford are currently managed by Daniel Klaynberg, Joseph’s son.
Klaynberg said he remains enthusiastic about Luari’s plans to open a brick-oven pizza in another Hartford property he is renovating with other partners.
“She was great to work with, and we always want to continue working with her,” Joseph Klaynberg said.
Daniel Klaynberg and brothers Matthew, Dean and Evan Levy are partnered in a $9.5 million retrofit of a former city firehouse at 275 Pearl St. into 34 apartments. Luari is lined up to open a brick-oven pizza shop in a 4,500-square-foot space on the first floor.
Klaynberg expects to begin welcoming tenants at the firehouse in June or July. He anticipates having commercial space ready for occupancy near the end of this year.
