Judge orders stay in Short's legal battle, allowing downtown Iowa City location to remain open

In the most recent twist for Short's Burger & Shine, the restaurant announced it will not close its downtown Iowa City location as the business awaits an appeal.

The restaurant's attorney and co-owner Kevin Perez filed an appeal on Wednesday disputing a judge's ruling that they vacate the building on Clinton Street for "failure to renew a lease," initially requiring them to close on Feb. 10.

Perez paid the appeals bond totaling more than $4,100, an amount equal to a rent check, according to court documents.

In response, a Johnson County judge ordered a "stay" — essentially, a pause — on the execution of the "writ of possession," allowing Short's to remain open.

Short's announced that it was permanently closing its downtown location in a social media post Tuesday, Feb. 6 before filing the appeal a day later, revealing their plans to keep its doors open.

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“I don’t know what to say,” Perez said in a statement. “My wife and I – my whole family and my employees are really grateful for the chance to be heard and for the amount of public support we have received over the past week. This is all overwhelming. Thank you to everyone who has voiced support both for this business and for saving H.D. Short’s building.”

Short's will operate as normal throughout court-appointed stay, the length of which will depend on an appellate judge's decision.

"We are pleased that the District Court will hear the more complex issues in this case without first requiring my clients to vacate the space where they have been operating for more than 15 years,” Perez's attorney Shawn Shearer said.

Johnson County Magistrate Judge Christopher Foster had ordered Short's to vacate the building in a ruling on Jan. 31, punctuating a lengthy legal dispute between Short's's owners, Perez and Dan Ouverson, and the building owners, MidWestOne Bank and the Haywood Belle Trust.

A statement from MidWestOne Bank to the Press-Citizen revealed they supported the Haywood B. Belle Family Trust, which owns the building at 18 S. Clinton Street. Belle was the grandson of the building's original owner, H.D. Short, who opened a shoe shinning business in 1920.

The bank also said they stand by their decision to seek legal action.

"MidWestOne, as an Iowa City banking leader since 1934 and as Trustee of the Haywood B. Belle Family Trust, disagrees with Short’s Burger & Shine’s portrayal of the facts underlying the parties’ dispute. MWO believes the court’s order for forcible entry and detainer, issued on January 31, speaks for itself and is confident that the legal process will ultimately support its position, as has been the case thus far."

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Short's pays homage to building owner as downtown staple

Short's opened it's first location in 2008 with the goal of honoring the legacy and story of former building owner H.D. Short, who shined shoes for 50 years.

The restaurant pays homage to Short with a story on its menu and through photographs on the walls.

Short's is no stranger to legal battles, having been locked in four different court cases since 2022.

The restaurant briefly closed in 2022 for what owners said was the building's poor condition. The restaurant was closed for three months for a "facelift" and reopened as students returned to campus.

Short's original ownership group included Perez, Ouverson and former Hawkeye and NFL player Nate Kaeding, who now runs the Gold Cap Hospitality ownership group.

The hamburger joint has two other locations, one on Iowa City's eastside at Westbury Drive, which opened in 2012 as well as a spot in Marion, which opened in 2019.

TripAdvisor picked Short's for its "Best burger in Iowa" award in 2018. In 2015, Thrillist named the burger the best in Iowa. That same year, College Raptor, a college-planning website, named it one of the top 15 college-town burger joints in America.

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Structural and professional issues plague Short's

Haywood Belle, the grandson of H.D. Short, owned the building when Short's opened its original location 16 years ago.

Perez said the structure started to fall into disrepair after Belle's death in 2016.

“My relationship was with Haywood Belle," Perez said in a statement provided to the Press-Citizen. "He treated everyone with respect. After he died, the bank and his widow started letting the building rot which confused me because Haywood was so proud of his building."

A legal battle spilled into the public eye in April 2022, when Short's announced its downtown location was closing.

Perez said he used that brief 2022 closure to invest nearly $60,000 in renovations, which he said he would not have done if he hadn't planned on renewing the restaurant lease.

Bench trial reveals Short's did not renew lease on time

Issues with the building lease found their way into the courtroom in four separate cases, the first of which began around the same time as the 2022 renovations.

That initial case was dismissed, but MidWestOne brought additional litigation against Perez — including the case for "breach of contract" — arguing that Perez and Ouverson had not provided written notice that they were renewing their lease in a timely fashion and that they were going to evict the tenants.

Lawyers for Short's argued that ownership's intent to renew was "clear" and that it was not required to provide written notice until after the conclusion of MidWestOne's first lawsuit. They also argued that MidWestOne did not have grounds to file the suit.

The most recent case made it to a bench trial, unlike previous litigation between the two entities.

As part of the lease agreement between Short's and MidWestOne, written notice of "intent to renew the lease" is required every three years. The most recent written notice was required by Jan. 30, 2023.

The judge determined that Short's did not provide a written notice until March 10, 2023, more than a month after the deadline.

In testimony, Dennis Mitchell, a trust officer at MidWestOne, said intent to renew had been expressed orally in 2017 and via email in 2020. Mitchell also said MidWestOne would have accepted an oral expression of intent to renew, but that was never given.

Perez testified that he did provide oral notice, though judge Foster said the "intent to exercise its option (to renew) are all ambiguous or otherwise subject to interpretation."

The judge said the only time that Shorts provided "a definite, unequivocal and unqualified determination that it intended to exercise its option to renew the lease" was five weeks after the deadline, on March 10.

Lawyers for Short's argued that ownership believed delivering a written decision any earlier would have potentially been "a futile act."

Foster partially disagreed, saying it would have only taken a few minutes to write and send a written notice of intent to renew the lease, even if Short's ownership felt the act was or would be pointless.

"Ultimately, the outcome of this litigation rests on whether Short's was excused from its obligation toinform (MidWestOne) in writing whether it wished to exercise its right to extend its lease for another three years," Foster wrote in his decision. "Unfortunately for Short's, it was not."

Foster said that, as a result, the lease agreement between MidWestOne and Short's ended in April 2023. He gave the business roughly 10 days from the time of the ruling to vacate the premises, which was made last Wednesday, Jan. 31.

Perez says fight isn't over, suggests discrimination

Perez, who has owned businesses in downtown Iowa City with his wife for more than three decades, said he is saddened by the closure and worries about where his employees will end up.

Perez and his lawyer, Shawn Shearer have also accused MidWestOne and Sarah Wallace-Belle, the widow of Haywood Belle, of discrimination, with Perez alleging they "have problems with a tenant being Hispanic and that has become clear."

“I have repeatedly asked MidWestOne Bank to articulate a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for their treatment of my client and one has not been provided," Shearer said in a statement. "There is still litigation pending in this case and we are appealing Magistrate Foster’s decision.

Then we have civil rights issues to litigate, so this is not over by a long shot.”

Litigation remains ongoing in a separate case brought by Perez and his attorney regarding a breach of contract and alleged malicious prosecution by MidWestOne and the Belle Trust.

A jury trial in that separate case is set to begin on July 16.

“I may be gone from this space for now, but I assure you I will continue to fight for myself, my family, my employees, Haywood Belle, H.D. Short and their ancestors," Perez said in a statement. "Downtown Iowa City needs to be for everyone.”

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached atrhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Short's Burger won't close as owners file appeal in legal battle