Whataburger

I've been on the hunt for a site along Fillmore St. in Colorado Springs for years, with no luck so far. I thought I'd spoken to every property owner until my buddy, Dan Rodriguez, called me and said he was close to securing a listing on a property he thought I'd be interested in. When he called, I was in my car, so I asked for the address. When he told me, I said, “Oooh, I don’t know exactly where that is, but it sounds like a good one!”. You see, I'd been looking for so long that I knew instantly it was in a location I'd be keen on; it would just come down to access and retail synergy. As soon as I reached my office, I looked it up and knew exactly what to do with it. I drafted an offer immediately. Dan ultimately got the listing, and we struck a deal before it hit the market. Having recently completed another lease with the Whataburger franchisee in Colorado Springs, I showed it to him, and he was interested in putting a Whataburger there. The land and tenant deal fell into place immediately. The main challenge I faced with this site was the presence of four existing tenants. While two leases were short-term, two were extended for several more years with no Landlord termination rights. This worried me for obvious reasons: I didn’t want to purchase the property and then wait three years before being able to do anything with it. Despite having a Whataburger deal in place, it wouldn't have made sense to acquire it, pay interest, and carry it for three years with minimal income from the property. So, I decided to meet with the two tenants, and thankfully, they were both cooperative. Apparently, they had a long and positive history, so they agreed to leave. However, they didn’t sign a termination agreement and assured me they'd leave before I was ready to start demolition. I bought the property based on their assurance that they would vacate when necessary. All I did was tell them not to pay rent for the remaining six months. It's always a bit scary when there's something hanging out there that could kill your deal, but everything worked out fine, and they left on time without any issues.

J. Clint Jameson, CDP

Managing Partner