Why Chick-fil-A ground leases trade at the tightest caps in QSR

Show notes

Chick-fil-A's operator model is unusual: the company controls the real estate decision and signs the ground lease, while an independent single-unit operator runs the restaurant. For a landlord that means the credit you're underwriting is the corporate parent, not the person running the store.

Pair that with some of the highest average unit volumes in fast food, very low closure rates, and long initial terms, and buyers treat these pads like bond substitutes. We walk through why that pricing holds and where it doesn't — short remaining term, secondary sites and relocation risk.