RiNo fried chicken restaurant Yardbird failed to pay rent ahead of its October closure, according to its landlord.
Lagniappe Capital Partners, which bought the Lot Twenty Eight building at 2743 Blake St. in 2021, said in a lawsuit against the restaurant last month that it failed to pay rent in August.
The lawsuit doesn’t specify exactly how much Yardbird owes Lagniappe, which was founded by Brian McGuire in 2018, nor whether it missed rent for other months. But the restaurant’s lease, which was obtained by BusinessDen in a public records request, shows monthly base rent for its 14,000 square feet started at $52,000 in the first year. That works out to nearly $45 a square foot annually.
Monthly rent was to increase by about $1,000 annually, according to the lease. Those figures do not include property taxes, utilities and common-area maintenance, commonly referred to as triple-net expenses, which Yardbird was also required to pay.
Yardbird signed the 10-year lease with two five-year options in December 2021, according to court documents. As part of the agreement, Lagniappe gave Yardbird a $2 million construction allowance and said it didn’t have to pay rent until the spot opened, which happened in August 2023.
This past Oct. 17, weeks after the restaurant shuttered, Yardbird surrendered its space to Lagniappe, according to the latter’s lawsuit.
McGuire and his lawyers, David Hutchinson and Chasen Miller of Otten Johnson Robinson Neff & Ragonetti, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
A representative for Yardbird’s parent company did not return an interview request from BusinessDen. The restaurant has yet to respond in court.
Yardbird, which operates in other cities, was launched by Miami-based 50 Eggs Hospitality Group. 50 Eggs CEO John Kunkel told BusinessDen he sold his stake in Yardbird over a year ago and thus wasn’t involved in the decision to close in RiNo.
Lot Twenty Eight is also home to a Rivian dealer and Puttshack, a mini-golf restaurant and bar.
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