Ex-owner of Cherry Creek building sues three tenants for unpaid rent

The former owner of a retail building in Cherry Creek is suing three tenants for unpaid rent, including a float studio that allegedly owes him nearly $235,000.

James Pepper, who sold the 250 Steele St. building for $14 million in March, filed three lawsuits on May 11. He’s demanding about $348,000 in total.

VIVE Float Studio, where customers can sit in vats of liquid nitrogen and float in sensory-free pools of water, has a location at 250 Steele and two other studios in Frisco and Chicago.

VIVE signed the Cherry Creek lease five years ago, in April 2017, according to Pepper’s lawsuit in Denver District Court. In January of this year, VIVE and its founder, Andi Sigler, “confirmed that it was in arrears for rents accruing through Jan. 31, 2022” of $234,556, the lawsuit claims.

On Feb. 16, Pepper’s company, 250 Steele LLC, demanded full payment. When it didn’t receive any money in the three months after, it filed its lawsuit on May 11, according to that lawsuit.

“VIVE Float Studio conducts business transparently, collaboratively and with integrity, and we plan to navigate this repayment no differently as we move forward under new building ownership, lease terms and excitement for our company’s future,” Sigler said in an email.

According to two other lawsuits, an Amazing Lash Studio location in the building owes Pepper $57,461 and 2:20 Nail Spa owes him $55,796.