Jared Kushner's development company, Kushner Companies, tried to evict two merchants in its seaside destination, Pier Village.
LONG BRANCH -- Jared Kushner, President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law, has reportedly backed down from a push to evict Stewart's Root Beer and Corner Cafe & Bistro from his seaside destination, Pier Village.
Stewart's owner and co-owner of the Corner Cafe Daniel Pinheiro told the Asbury Park Press that he and Kushner's development company, Kushner Companies, settled a lawsuit that will allow both establishments to stay in the Kushner-owned Pier Village.
Pinheiro and his partner in Corner Cafe, Michael Keating, went on the offensive after a lease dispute with Kushner.
"We're suing them, and we're not going anywhere," Pinheiro told NJ Advance Media in May. "We're not trying to argue with them. We just want them to do the right thing."
Pinheiro has owned Stewart's with his father since Pier Village opened in 2005. He and Keating bought the Corner Cafe in 2010. The lease for both those sites came up for renewal last year, about a year after Kushner Companies and Extel Development Co. bought the retail area from the original developer.
Pinheiro and Keating negotiated the terms of a new lease, which included a rent increase, but never received a final lease signed by all the parties.
In August 2015, a Kushner representative told them they were on a month-to-month lease agreement and that the development company had never signed a final lease, Keating and Pinheiro alleged.
The two owners sued in January and two months later Kushner filed an eviction notice against Stewart's and Corner Cafe, they said.
The two sides settled, but the terms of the agreement were not disclosed, the Asbury Park Press reported.
"We're pleased we were able to come to a mutual agreement," a Kushner spokesperson told the newspaper.
Pinheiro said he is "happy with the outcome" and the agreement will ensure the two businesses are in Pier Village for "many years to come," according to the Asbury Park Press.
The news of the settlement comes as reports are surfacing that Kushner may take a role in the White House.
Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, will expand his footprint on the Jersey Shore when he begins redeveloping the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown into a sprawling mix of housing and retail.
NJ Advance Media reporter MaryAnn Spoto contributed to this report.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.