Sale-leaseback transaction contributes to Frisch’s closings

UC Real Estate Center executive director tells WCPO this type of situation has happened before

The Frisch’s Big Boy chain could be forced to close more restaurants, which can in part be traced back to the sale-leaseback transaction by the company, University of Cincinnati Real Estate Center Executive Director Carl Goertemoeller told WCPO.

Carl Goertemoeller headshot

Carl Goertemoeller, UC Real Estate Center executive director

More than a dozen Frisch's locations in the Cincinnati region received eviction notices. The locations had been owned by Frisch’s but were sold as part of a sale-leaseback transaction.

“There are plenty of examples of companies who went into this type of real estate strategy with good intentions, and it just didn’t work out,” said Carl Goertemoeller, executive director of the UC Real Estate Center. “I hope that’s not the case with Frisch’s, but we’ve seen this movie before.”

While sale-leaseback arrangements give companies an influx of money up front, Goertemoeller said they can be risky as they require annual rent increases that make it harder for companies to adapt to rising food, energy and labor costs.

“If you own the real estate, that gives you control,” he said. “If you have an underperforming location, it gives you the ability to monetize it by selling it. And it allows you as an ongoing enterprise to avoid having to pay rent.”

See more from WCPO.

Featured image at top: A Frisch’s Big Boy restaurant. Photo/Lisa Britton/UC Marketing + Brand

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