BurgerFi is cutting the fat from its real estate, abandoning leases at four South Florida restaurants and its corporate office in Fort Lauderdale.
The fast food chain, which also owns Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, abandoned leases for its headquarters at 200 West Cypress Creek Road, three BurgerFI spots in Pembroke Pines, Jupiter and Delray Beach and a pizzeria in Hallandale Beach, a bankruptcy motion filed last week shows.
BurgerFi, led by CEO Carl Bachmann, filed for Chapter 11 protection in Miami federal bankruptcy court on Sept. 11. In its petition, BurgerFi estimated the company had between $50 million to $100 million in assets, and an estimated debt of between $100 million and $500 million owed to 50 creditors.
The filing also shows that a few prominent South Florida real estate developers and investors own a significant amount of stock in BurgerFi. Ophir Sternberg’s Miami-based Lionheart Capital owns 1.1 million shares, Miami Worldcenter master developer Art Falcone owns 94,430 shares and Pebb Capital Chairman Todd Rosenberg owns 28,302 shares, a list of equity holders states.
Nasdaq recently notified BurgerFi the company was being delisted due to its failure to timely file quarterly reports.
The bankruptcy petition only applies to 67 BurgerFi and Anthony’s restaurants owned by the corporation. It excludes sites owned by franchisees.
BurgerFi ceased operations at its corporate office and the four restaurants in Broward and Palm Beach counties after determining the leases were “burdensome,” filings state. The restaurants were also “determined to be underperforming or unprofitable.”
The company also vacated seven other restaurants in Florida and eight outside the state, court documents show. BurgerFi notified all of the landlords, the most recent motion states.
In its petition, BurgerFi blamed slumping sales, declining foot traffic, rising labor and food costs and troubles raising more capital for the company’s financial troubles. Founded in 2011 as a premium burger joint concept, BurgerFi expanded 10 years later by acquiring Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza. Both chains were established in Broward County.
