Silver Diner is suing the company that manages concessions at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport over a leasing dispute.
Silver Diner said on its website that it had an agreement with concessions manager Fraport USA to keep its space at BWI for another 10 years once the German company secured the concession rights, which the company did in 2025.
Afterward, Fraport demanded the restaurant gut its interior and rebuild the space to keep the lease, which Silver Diner said would cost $8 million to $10 million.
The restaurant contends that the original agreement called only for work costing at least $1.5 million and that Fraport misrepresented the demand for a full rebuild as a requirement from the state of Maryland, according to the suit as cited by MoCo Show.
Kyle Rudich, director of airport operations for Silver Diner, told WMAR-TV that “we signed an agreement with Fraport that we would stay in the same location, same size, no difference; we would just give them a brand new, re-envisioned restaurant. … They said, ’No. Not only do you have to do all the front-facing in the restaurant; you have to demolish the entire restaurant.’”
Fraport said in a statement that “Fraport USA categorically rejects the claims asserted in the pending litigation as unfounded and without merit.”
“We have complied, and continue to comply with all contractual obligations, and have acted in good faith at all times,” the statement reads. “We will vigorously defend against these claims and address the allegations in the appropriate forum.”
Silver Diner will close by the end of 2027 if it can’t secure an extension on its lease, the restaurant said on its website. The suit seeks to enforce Fraport’s initial agreement and original renovation plans.
“They’re going to have to drag us out. We have our employees to protect. If they bring in the wrecking ball, we’re going to be standing in front of it,” Silver Diner founder Robert Giaimo told The Baltimore Sun.
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