“It’s not that important to me; there’s lots of other places to eat,” said Hye S. Kim ’03.

‘Difficult Lessons’ Learned

Pepper said that they were surprised when the original lease was terminated. He mentioned the complexity of The Wrap’s 50-page leases, saying “none of us who aren’t lawyers truly understand what the legal documents say.”

Neither Pepper nor Liebman would comment about all the details of the lease termination and renegotiation.

“We don’t feel comfortable talking about it because we don’t know what the repercussions are,” Liebman said.

Liebman also said that tenants were often at a disadvantage because leases are filled with clauses by which a landlord can evict a tenant at any time. Pepper added that the livelihoods of many employees were at stake.

Rita Tobias, the owner of The Tennis and Squash Shop also located in HSA’s Mt. Auburn Street building, said that her store would be unaffected by any decision of HSA to terminate The Wrap’s lease.

“We’re like Harvard. This store has been here since 1920. Our lease is long term,” Tobias said.

According to its CEO, ultimately The Wrap came to appreciate the importance of understanding all the intricacies of a lease contract.

“We’ve learned a very difficult lesson”, Pepper said. “I’m used to working on the basis of trust and a good old-fashioned hand shake.”