A downtown Denver landlord is staring down roughly $2 million in claims as a long-running cannabis feud on the 16th Street Mall returns to court. The fight centers on the high-visibility storefront that first opened as Euflora and later cycled through other brands. Plaintiff Justin Breton alleges in new filings that building owner Nick Gatchis worked behind the scenes to push JS Investments out of the space and meddled with the company’s day-to-day operations.
According to BusinessDen, Breton claims Gatchis cut his own deal with former partner Scott Rybicki and Jars to edge JS Investments out, threatened eviction and a lockout, and even pulled employees into the dispute. The suit asks a judge to toss a 2024 lease addendum that Breton says Rybicki signed without telling him.
The bad blood dates back to 2024, when Breton sued Rybicki and Jars Holdings after what he describes as a botched sale of Euflora that never truly closed. As reported by Law360, the earlier round of litigation featured countersuits and accusations that the purchase was mishandled from the start.
The storefront itself has been through a branding carousel and now operates as Flyhi at 401 16th Street, according to Flyhi. The company says the downtown shop and an Aurora outpost anchor its new retail push and that Pepe Breton has stepped back in to lead the operation.
Legal claims and relief sought
In the latest case, Breton is asking for nearly $1 million; he says JS Investments paid in overcharged rent, plus roughly $1 million for work performed at the 16th Street location, along with a court order unwinding the 2024 lease addendum. The complaint also alleges that a $150,000 company check written in August 2024 was never returned, according to BusinessDen. That is a lot of money to be arguing over a single address.
Why it matters for downtown
Lease wars like this do not stay confined to a courtroom when the property sits on the 16th Street Mall, a corridor that has already taken its share of hits from years of construction and drained foot traffic. As CBS Colorado reported, businesses up and down the mall have watched revenue plunge and vacancies climb during the lengthy remodel, which makes landing and keeping tenants even more critical and every dispute that much nastier.
For now, the downtown shop keeps its lights on under the Flyhi banner while the case winds through court. Judges will decide whether the contested lease changes stand and whether anyone walks away with a check instead of another round of legal filings.
