NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THEAPPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISIONSUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEYAPPELLATE DIVISIONDOCKET NO. A-6228-07T1R.A.M. HOLDING CORP.,Plaintiff-Appellant,v.HOBOKEN NO. 1 BLIMPIE, INC.,Defendant-Respondent. _______________________________ Submitted June 30, 2009 - DecidedBefore Judges Skillman and Wefing.On appeal from Superior Court of NewJersey, Law Division, Hudson County,No. L-1267-08.Robert S. Feder, attorney for appellant.Frank P. Marciano, attorney for respondent.PER CURIAMPlaintiff R.A.M. Holding Corp. ("RAM") appeals from a trialcourt order granting summary judgment to defendant Hoboken No. 1Blimpie, Inc. ("Blimpie") and finding that Blimpie had validlyexercised its option to renew its lease. After reviewing therecord in light of the contentions advanced on appeal, weJuly 24, 2009

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2affirm, although for reasons other than those stated by thetrial court.RAM owns a building located at 110 Washington Street inHoboken, and in 1997 it leased the building to Blimpie for aperiod of ten years, commencing September 1, 1997, throughAugust 31, 2007, for a monthly rent of $4,000. Defendant wasreluctant to pay rent as of September 1, 1997, because thebuilding required substantial renovations before defendant couldopen as a Blimpie's restaurant. The parties executed a riderto the lease under which defendant's obligation to pay rent didnot commence until December 1, 1997, and defendant agreed thatthe monthly rent would increase annually in accordance with thecost of living computation included in the rider. Paragraph 48of the rider granted Blimpie an option to renew the lease fortwo successive five-year periods. The rider defined the optionin the following manner.Tenant is herein granted an option torenew this lease for an additional five (5)year term (hereinafter the "First RenewalPeriod") for a monthly rental of the monthlybase rent of equal to the monthly rent duefor the 120th month plus the COLA annualincrease as described in Paragraph 36 above.Upon the expiration of the First RenewalPeriod and the five (5) year term, Tenant isherein granted an option to renew this Leasefor an additional five (5) year term (hereinafter the "Second Renewal Period")for a monthly rent equal to the 150th month

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3of this Lease plus the COLA annual increaseas described in Paragraph 36 above.Tenant shall furnish the Landlord within60 days of the termination of this Lease written notification of its intent toexercise its option to renew.The rider also stated that it was "intended to supplement,and be a part of, the Lease Agreement between the parties. Tothe extent that any of the terms of this Rider conflict with theterms as contained within the printed Lease Agreement, the termsof this Rider shall be controlling."In early to mid-September 2007, the principals of RAM andBlimpie held discussions about a new lease, but an agreement wasnot finalized. There is no indication in the record that thesediscussions had broken off; rather, they had not been completed.On September 26, 1997, RAM's attorney wrote to Blimpie,informing it that the lease had terminated on August 31, 2007.Blimpie responded by letter dated October 2, 2007, that it wasexercising its option to renew the lease for an additional fiveyears. RAM responded in turn that it was willing to negotiate anew lease, but at a substantially increased monthly rental.When Blimpie would not agree, RAM commenced dispossessproceedings which were eventually removed to the Law Division.The matter was presented to the trial court on cross-motions for summary judgment. RAM argued that Blimpie did notexercise its option within the sixty-day period before the lease