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Lawsuit: Zinburger Suing Garden State Plaza Over 'Ghost Town' Mall Location

When Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar signed a lease at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in 2012, its section of the mall was bustling.

Zinburger has filed a lawsuit against Westfield's Garden State Plaza.

Zinburger has filed a lawsuit against Westfield's Garden State Plaza.

Photo Credit: Zinburger Facebook

Seven years later and the burger restaurant remains one of the few tenants remaining in its section.

Several retailers were vacated in 2017 and 2018 -- including JCPenney -- and Zinburger is down nearly 20 percent in sales, making it unprofitable, according to a lawsuit filed by the restaurant against the mall.

The suit accuses the mall of hindering business to the restaurant and notes that Zinburger's requests to relocate were denied because it would cost the mall too much money, NorthJersey.com reports.

"My client has described it as a 'ghost town,'" Paramus Zinburger, LLC attorney Philip Rosenbach told the news outlet.

"The location has essentially been taken and the parking has been taken. We want the mall to succeed, but our business has suffered."

A Garden State Plaza spokesperson declined comment to NorthJersey.com.

Sales have dropped nearly 20 percent, and the mall has prohibited Zinburger from relocating, which would apparently be too costly, the suit says.

Zinburger said in the complaint that it was not consulted regarding a new development that is intended to be Paramus' downtown district including more stores, housing and a hockey rink is slated to go into a portion of the parking lot outside of the restaurant.

"We filed the lawsuit because we have been a very good tenant," Rosenbach added in the NorthJersey.com report, "and they’re expanding at our expense."

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