LOUISVILLE, KY. — The Cordish Cos. has signed a lease with celebrity chef Guy Fieri for his new dining concept, Guy Fieri’s Smokehouse. The new barbecue restaurant will open to the public in September at Fourth Street Live!, a 350,000-square-foot dining and entertainment destination in downtown Louisville. Designed by Boston-based Niemitz Design Group and Louisville-based Bravura Architects, the restaurant will feature 6,700 square feet of dining space, 117 interior seats, 79 outdoor patio seats, two large meat smokers and an indoor/outdoor bar. Other dining concepts at Fourth Street Live! include Birracibo by Junior Bridgeman, Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse, Bourbon Raw, Goose Island Beer Bridge, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, Brazeiros Churrascaria Brazilian Steakhouse and Eddie Merlot’s.
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WALNUT CREEK, CALIF. — MoMo’s American Bar & Grill, an AT&T Park-adjacent restaurant, is opening a second location in Walnut Creek, roughly 25 miles outside of San Francisco. The bar and eatery will occupy a 6,528-square-foot retail space at 1444 N. California Blvd. Jeffrey Hook of Savills Studley represented MoMo’s, and John Sechser of Transwestern represented the landlord, Nearon Enterprises, in the transaction. The restaurant signed a 15-year lease with two extension options, and plans to open in the fourth quarter of this year. This will be the fifth restaurant owned by The Golden Bear Restaurant Group, founded in 1991 by Peter Osborne and his wife, Janet. The original MoMo’s opened in 1998 and was named in memory of Osborne’s grandmother and mentor, whom he affectionately called MoMo.
MISSOURI CITY, TEXAS — Malawi’s Pizza has leased 5,000 square feet of retail space at 8731 Highway 6 Center in Missouri City for its first Houston-area location. The center is located at Highway 6 and Sienna Parkway in Sienna Plantation, a master-planned development. Malawi’s Pizza plans to eventually open 22 restaurants in the greater Houston market. Doug Hermann, Edward Heap and Randy Hopper with The Weitzman Group handled negotiations as tenant representatives for the restaurant. The newly constructed center is shadow-anchored by H-E-B and serves the growing Sienna Plantation market. For each meal purchased at Malawi’s Pizza, the restaurant donates a meal to a child in Malawi, Africa.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Jab Beech Inc. and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which JAB Beech will acquire Krispy Kreme for $21 per share in cash, or a total equity value of approximately $1.35 billion. The agreement, which has been unanimously approved by Krispy Kreme’s board of directors, represents a premium of approximately 25 percent over the company’s closing stock price on May 6, 2016. Wells Fargo Securities LLC is serving as financial advisor to Krispy Kreme in connection with this transaction, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice LLP are providing legal support and advice. Barclays and BDT & Co. LLC are serving as financial advisors to JAB Beech in connection with this transaction, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is providing legal advice. At the close of the transaction, Krispy Kreme will be privately owned and will continue to be independently operated from its current headquarters in Winston-Salem. As of this writing there are over 1,100 Krispy Kreme shops in more than 26 countries around the world. Jab Beech Inc. is a subsidiary of JAB Holdings Co., which has controlling stakes in Keurig Green Mountain, …
LOS ANGELES — Kennedy Wilson has arranged three leases for three fast casual poke restaurants: Hoke Poke, OkoPoki and Honeyfish Poke. Poke is a type of fish salad popular in Hawaiian cuisine. Hoke Poke signed a 10-year lease from Essex Portfolio for 1,200 square feet of space at 801 Hope St. in downtown Los Angeles. Hoke Poke plans to open in July with three more locations slated to open within the next year. OkiPoki inked a five-year lease from DTLA Development Group for 1,000 square feet of space at The Alexandria, located at 507 S. Spring St. in Los Angeles’ historic core. Honeyfish Poke opened a 1,100-square-foot location at 8850 Tampa Ave. in Northridge. The restaurant signed a five-year lease with 8850 Tampa Associates for the space. Honeyfish Poke is scheduled to open its second location in Westlake Village in May. Kennedy Wilson represented the landlords in each transaction.
GARLAND, TEXAS — InvestCore Commercial has brokered the $3.2 million sale of a 4,315-square-foot retail building in Garland, which is triple-net leased to Panera Bread. The 0.9-acre pad is located at 200 Town Center Blvd., directly adjacent to an In-N-Out Burger. The eatery is situated at the entrance to Firewheel Town Center, a more than 1 million-square-foot shopping center owned by Simon Property Group. Panera Bread opened on Feb. 8. The fast-casual bakery-café holds a 15-year ground lease, with three, five-year renewal options. Rent schedules include increases of up to 7.3 percent. An out-of-state investor purchased the asset from Next Play Firewheel LLC in an all-cash, 1031 tax-deferred exchange transaction. The deal closed at a 4.25 percent cap rate. Michael Campbell and Ed Colson of InvestCore Commercial represented the seller.
FRISCO, TEXAS — The Dallas Cowboys have unveiled plans for a 200,000-square-foot retail block at The Star in Frisco, a $1.5 billion, 91-acre mixed-use development that will include the NFL team’s new headquarters. In addition to the retail space and corporate headquarters, The Star in Frisco will feature the Cowboys’ training complex, a 12,000-seat multi-use event center and an Omni hotel. “The retail area will allow visitors to enjoy The Star whether there’s an event happening or simply a Friday night out with friends and family,” says Jerry Jones Jr., executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer for the Dallas Cowboys. Storefronts will line The Star Boulevard, Winning Drive and Cowboys Way at The Star, and will provide shoppers and diners with a Dallas Cowboys brand experience. The restaurants that will be opening locations at The Star include City Works, Dee Lincoln Prime, Liberty Burger, Mi Cocina, Neighborhood Services, Nestlé Toll House Café by Chip and Tupelo Honey Café. The retail space will be located south of the Cowboys’ headquarters and The Ford Center, which will house the event center and the team’s training complex. Neighborhood Services will be located inside the Omni hotel. Next Step Dance, a …
WACO, TEXAS — Metropolitan Capital Advisors has arranged a $1 million fixed-rate senior mortgage for a 4,384-square-foot restaurant in Waco. Twisted Root Burger Co. occupies 100 percent of the building, which fronts I-35 adjacent to Baylor University. The loan includes a 4.3 percent interest rate with a 25-year amortization schedule. The sponsor recently executed a 15-year triple net lease for the property with Twisted Root Burger Co. Twisted Root is the first of three restaurant concepts created by Jason Boso and Quincy Hart. Their flagship location in Dallas opened in late 2005 in the Deep Ellum District. Boso and Hart later appeared on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives with Guy Fieri, and they’ve since opened 11 other stores over the last eight years.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — The Vitorino Group has negotiated the sale of a Dunkin’ Donuts ground lease in Arlington. The prior building on the property, a City of Arlington fire station, was razed and a portion was ground leased to Star Dunkin’ LP, an entity controlled by Jerry Jones and Troy Aikman. Located on Cooper Street, the property was built in 2014 and was secured by a 15-year net lease, which included a guaranty from the parent company. The offering was sold to an out-of state buyer from the West Coast. The Vitorino Group cooperated with an outside agent from Colorado. The buyer utilized a 1031 tax-deferred exchange.
SUGAR LAND, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of a 1,850-square-foot, net-leased Starbucks property located in Sugar Land. Justin Miller, Derek Hargrove and Davis Hansen of Marcus & Millichap’s Houston office marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a Houston-based developer. The property sold to an out-of-state investor utilizing a 1031 tax-deferred exchange. Starbucks is located at 6502 Highway 90.