Negotiating Bar & Restaurant Leases During a Pandemic
The list of states pausing or reversing reopening plans grows with 35 of these states showing increases in COVID-19 cases, and owners continue to try and preserve as much cash as possible. With the largest expense for many operations being rent, the need to negotiate with stubborn landlords continues to be an uphill battle.
While the CARES act provided some relief via the Paycheck Protection Program, only 60% of the funds can be used to pay lease obligations. Operators are still facing closed bars, shutdown indoor dining rooms, and reduced capacity 120 days later when many jurisdictions shut down in mid-March.
Given many bars and restaurants are still locked into contractual disputes where they can face penalties, such as enabling a landlord to seize on-site assets for defaulting on a lease, for defaulting on their lease, Bar & Restaurant asked business law attorney Jessica Shraybman of Shraybman Law in Miami on how non-franchise restaurants can navigate this uncertain financial environment while going back and forth between reopening and closing.