Downtown Building Owners May Continue Collecting Rent Based On Gold Prices

A federal district judge has ruled a group of property owners in Columbus may collect rent based on the price of gold as part of a century-old agreement. The judge's ruling means rent paid by the company that leases the Commerce Building on East Gay Street could increase from 6 thousand to nearly 350 thousand dollars per year. At issue is the original 1919 lease, which included a so-called "gold clause," a provision common at the time that linked rent to the price of gold to account for inflation. Commonwealth Investments, the company paying the 6 thousand dollar annual rent, argued that a 1977 law rendered any previous gold clauses invalid. The ruling affects rent owed since August 2014, when the property owners sued.