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Negotiating and Drafting Restaurant Leases: Emerging Trends and Developments

Recording of a 90-minute premium CLE video webinar with Q&A

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Conducted on Thursday, April 13, 2023

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This CLE webinar will focus on drafting and negotiating the provisions of restaurant leases and emerging trends. The panel will discuss how the operational aspects of a restaurant impact provisions in the lease, tenant improvements, franchise relationships, operational issues in mixed-use developments, insurance provisions and coverages, and issues applicable to tenants generally.

Description

Restaurant leases present unique issues for landlords and tenants beyond those for office and retail use; including, among other matters, the high cost of tenant improvements and operating the business, the impact of a restaurant tenant on other tenants, potential franchise affiliations, and high-maintenance equipment.

If the restaurant is part of a multi-use project, then counsel should understand the scope of the project and stage of development. Counsel should negotiate security deposits, guarantees, and letters of credit to understand the capitalization and franchise structure of a restaurant tenant. If a restaurant defaults on its lease, a restaurant lender will want to foreclose on equipment and furnishings that secured the lender's loan.

When the tenant is a part of a restaurant chain and defaults under its franchise agreement, the franchisor may want the ability to take back the space and either operate the restaurant or assign the lease to another operator. The franchise agreement may require specific terms in the lease that may be objectionable to the landlord.

Restaurant leases must also address issues common to other tenants, such as permitted and exclusive uses in a center, co-tenancy and right to go dark, operating expenses, termination provisions, parking, options to renew, insurance, and mutual waivers of subrogation. These issues are of heightened importance when a restaurant is considered an anchor in retail development.

Listen as our expert panel discusses drafting and negotiating the provisions of restaurant leases and how actual negotiations should always take the needs of the renting entity into consideration. Restaurants have different space needs, unique requirements, and other leasing priorities. The panel will discuss how best to address concerns with restaurant use, tenant improvements, franchise relationships, insurance provisions and coverages, operational issues in mixed-use developments, and other key considerations.

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Outline

  1. Restaurant tenants generally: distinguishing features
  2. Tenant improvements/buildout provisions
    1. Allocation of responsibility between landlord and tenant
    2. Equipment and furnishings: lender rights upon lease or loan default
  3. Franchised (chain) restaurants: rights of franchisor upon default under lease or franchise
  4. Insurance provisions and coverages
  5. Other provisions: co-tenancy, go dark, termination provisions, parking, options to renew, insurance
  6. Subordination, non-disturbance, and attornment agreements

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • How do the operational aspects of a restaurant impact provisions in a restaurant lease?
  • What are the concerns for a mixed-use development, and how might they be reflected in the lease?
  • Given the expense of a restaurant buildout, how might financing arrangements impact the lease?
  • How might a franchise agreement affect the provisions of a restaurant lease and the buildout process?
  • What are the nuisance concerns to address in a restaurant lease?

Faculty

Bouskila, Mayan
Mayan Bouskila

Attorney + Founder
-

Ms. Bouskila is the founder of a New York City-based boutique law firm focusing on servicing the hospitality and...  |  Read More

Hale, Michael
Michael S. Hale

President
Clairmont Advisors

Mr. Hale has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry as an attorney and a broker, and has...  |  Read More

Weltman, Jeremy
Jeremy Y. Weltman

Shareholder
Ruberto Israel & Weiner

Mr. Weltman's wide-reaching litigation practice focuses on finding successful resolutions to his clients' legal...  |  Read More

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