Fast-Casual Restaurants Take Over Retail

LOS ANGELES—Kennedy Wilson has completed three lease transactions with Jersey Mike’s Subs in the greater Los Angeles area. The brokerage company has been hired to represent Jersey Mike’s Subs in its Southern California expansion, which has already resulted in 25 new leases this year. Although these three leases only total 4,100 square feet, they illustrate the rise of fast-casual restaurants on the retail scene.

“The restaurant experience is changing quite dramatically from a retail perspective and as a shopping experience,” Michael Pakravan, VP of Kennedy Wilson’s brokerage group tells GlobeSt.com. “Today, restaurants are the anchor tenants and people are going to retail destinations specifically for restaurants, whether that is a fast-casual experience or a sit down experience. Overall, people eat out a lot more. It used to be that you would eat out two to three meals a week, but millennials are now eating out two to three meals a day. When planning a shopping center or a mixed-use development, it is important to have both the fast-casual and the sit down restaurants to cater to different needs.” Pakravan represented Jersey Mike’s Subs in the lease transactions.