ORLANDO, Fla. — A large food hall in the Ivanhoe Village area of Orlando has suddenly shut its doors. The “Hall on the Yard” opened in 2022 but is now being evicted.
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Employees showed up to work Thursday but were told they were out of jobs and many of those employees claim they haven’t been paid for weeks.
On Friday, Channel 9 observed the owners and employees of the several eateries inside of the food hall cleaning and packing.
Court records show The Hall on the Yard is being evicted and is facing a lawsuit for breach of contract.
The lawsuit was filed by IVANHOE PLACE PROPCO LLC and lists “the Hall on the Yard” and owner Jamal Wilson as defendants.
Restaurants inside the food hall were also listed, but according to a statement posted by one of the restaurant owners, the eateries are not being held legally responsible for the issue and are instead listed “because the court system requires the landlord to do so.”
Court records show the Hall on the Yard is being evicted because the food hall owner, Jamal Wilson, owes the landlord $249,105.16 in rent, plus utilities.
The same court records show Wilson filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July.
Heber Aguilar was inside of the food hall Thursday morning as eviction papers were delivered.
Aguilar is a bartender who says his last paycheck came 8 weeks ago. On Friday he came to the Hall on the Yard, hoping management would offer him some solutions.
“I haven’t been paid since February 19th,” said Aguilar, “I still haven’t been able to catch up with my credit card. My car payment is one month behind already.”
28-year-old waiter MJ Ortega said he also is missing more than 4-weeks in pay.
He began working at the Hall on the Yard in August, but said financial issues became apparent in the fall.
“November was the beginning. It’s been an avalanche of financial issues since then,” said Ortega.
On Friday, Channel 9 repeatedly reached out to the Owner, Jamal Wilson.
He did not respond to any of our calls, text, or social media messages ahead of news time.
But Channel 9 did speak to Lowell Moore who identified himself as an investing partner of Wilson.
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Lowell told Channel 9 that Wilson “created a mess he was now working to clean up.”
He declined an on-camera interview, but did state he was trying to get his employees paid for the time they worked. He also told Channel 9 that he did manage to pay at least one employee on Friday.
Lowell also stated he invested in another one of Wilson’s food hall businesses in Atlanta which closed after just 6-weeks of business.
Several newspaper outlets reported on similar employee payment issues after the Hall on Ashford Lane in Atlanta closed in July of 2023.
In the meantime, one of the eateries impacted by the eviction filing posted on social media stating they were “unexpectedly served a 5-day notice to leave the premises.,” and that, “The issues at hand are entirely beyond our control or involvement.
You can read the full statement from Shay’s Kitchen below:
“Dear friends and Family of Shay’s Kitchen,
We would like to take the time to address the current issue involving the Hall on the Yard. Today, we were unexpectedly served a 5-day notice to vacate the premises. In the notice, Shay’s Kitchen was named as a Defendant. In a letter attached to the notice, we were informed that we are not legally responsible for any of the issues but are named merely because the court system requires the landlord to do so. Shay’s Kitchen has fulfilled all of its financial obligations to date. The issues at hand are entirely beyond our control or involvement.
In the meantime, we are looking for another location to reopen Shay’s Kitchen.
We appreciate all your support, love and encouragement in this time. Shay’s Kitchen will be back!”
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