L8nite, a fast-food restaurant located on the University of Kentucky’s North Campus, was sent a notice of default for a sign that had yet to be approved.
On Sept. 4, L8nite’s owner, Mohamed Weheba, and others involved with the restaurant, removed the $15,000 sign from the UK-owned Cornerstone building. UK has joint ownership of Cornerstone with Signet Kentucky Real Estate Group.
Signet has control over L8nite’s food stalls and UK has control over the property once you walk out of L8nite’s doors, according to their respective leases.
Weheba proposed his sign be mounted to the Cornerstone Garage in April 2024 though UK “never ever got back” to him regarding that proposal.
According to Weheba, prior to Sept. 4, he had no direct contact with UK and instead spoke to UK through L8nite’s landlord, Signet.
Though Weheba said he did not receive a response to his March proposal, UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said Weheba was denied approval for his sign and that the decision was made by UK and Signet together.
Weheba purchased a $15,000 portable sign to keep outside the restaurant doors rather than mounting his sign to the garage.
“I’ve been really fighting hard for the past two years is to get some sort of signage over here,” Weheba said.
The new design was purchased in May and put into use in August. On Aug. 27, Weheba received a notice of default from Signet.
“…Tenant is hereby in default of the Lease for its failure to adhere to the Signage requirements as specified within Section 19.1 of said Lease,” the notice said.
After multiple attempts to get in contact with Signet, there has been no response.
Weheba said, at first, that he was told he would face eviction if he did not remove the sign, however, Blanton said Weheba is “not being evicted and he knows that.”
Weheba has since stopped claiming that he was facing eviction.
Weheba said he felt it was “unfair” that other vendors such as the Barnes & Noble, located in the Gatton Student Center bookstore have signage, but L8nite’s signage proposal had been “ignored” and then denied.
After meeting with Heath Price, the UK associate vice president for partnerships, and his team on Sept. 7, Weheba said the original L8nite signage design will be re-proposed to the signage committee and it will be reviewed “based on the (signage) guidelines.”
All signage on UK’s campus must adhere to the signage policy. According to the document, the policy provides general guidelines to provide clear information to the campus community, eliminate unnecessary, inconsistent and ineffective signage, and to promote a unified appearance for all facilities.
Blanton said sign proposals are evaluated on a case-by-case basis in terms of appearance and the cohesiveness of the entire building’s signage.
“We have met with the vendor here and are continuing those discussions. But we are going to do things in a way that (treats) everyone — including all the vendors in that facility — fairly and that match the standards of quality we expect in our facilities,” Blanton said.
