We haven't seen the lease, but we know it was written in 2007. In 2007, landlords were writing sweetheart leases so tenants didn't abandon their building. If I were a restaurant negotiating in 2007, I would have made it the owner's responsibility to do maintenance, and probably would have gotten it.
That's backed up by the new owner blaming the bad floor on the tenant - that would be the only way they would owe, if the owner was on the hook for maintenance. Also, when the new owner took over, he promised to do deferred maintenance; why would he promise that if he wasn't responsible for the maintenance?
We only have the new owner's word that the repair will cost $50K. I don't know if $50K is reasonable to repair a floor that the building inspector thinks is okay. But, it does seem like a big enough bill to threaten collection/court if they don't sign the new, higher lease.
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