The Springfield-area franchisee for Back Yard Burgers shut down two of its Queen City locations last month.
Records tied to one of the properties indicate the building next to Battlefield Market Place currently is being managed by a special servicer due to a delinquent debt of over $1.3 million.
According to a Back Yard Burgers representative, the restaurants at 2305 N. Glenstone Ave. and 1008 E. Battlefield Road shut down early last month. Both facilities were operated by franchisee Kevin Rolf. Eric White, a spokesman for Nashville, Tenn.-based Back Yard Burgers, said Rolf’s 4020 S. Campbell Ave. location north of Republic Road remains open and the company had no expectation of a closure at that site. Rolf did not respond to calls for comment by press time.
“Back Yard Burgers has seen 19 consecutive months of systemwide sales improvement. Regrettably, a few of our franchisee-operated stores have struggled – and for different reasons,” White said in an email statement.
Of the 64 restaurants in the Back Yard Burgers chain, White said 41 are operated by franchisees.
He said Rolf also operated a store in Joplin and two in Arkansas.
Sean Barrie, a research analyst for commercial real estate and banking analytics firm Trepp LLC, provided loan details on the East Battlefield property to Springfield Business Journal. Trepp specializes in commercial mortgage-backed securities, such as the loan taken out by owners of the Battlefield property.
Barrie, who aggregates commercial real estate data tied to CMBS agreements for Trepp, said a special servicer was appointed to manage the Battlefield property owned by Otoniel and Edelmira DeCasas, of Shawnee Mission, Kan.
“Special servicers are banks or firms or entities that are appointed to the CMBS deals, and if a loan goes into delinquency or default, a special servicer is brought in to find a workout strategy for the loan and maximize as much return as they can,” Barrie said, adding sometimes loan terms can be renegotiated. “It is not a death knell on a loan if a special servicer is brought in.”
According to Trepp records, the DeCasases were 60 days delinquent on the loan. In this case, he said the situation was precarious because the property only had one tenant.
“The single tenant, Back Yard Burgers, reportedly filed bankruptcy and closed out the store,” Barrie said, citing information filed by the special servicer.
While no current filing for Rolf or his franchise company, Ozark Restaurant Group Inc., was posted in online bankruptcy records, Rolf and company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in September 2011 in the Western District of Missouri.
Rolf and his two brothers, Donald and Michael, co-owned Ozark Restaurant Group, based in Fullerton, Neb. According to SBJ archives, the brothers opened the Campbell restaurant in May 2007. Bankruptcy court records show U.S. Foodservice Inc. filed a motion to fight the discharge of over $130,000 in debt to the food provider. Kevin Rolf stated in the filing that Ozark Restaurant Group had no assets.
With personal guarantees by the brothers required for the food service agreement, the judge in December 2011 sided with U.S. Foodservice and chose not to discharge the Rolfs’ debt.
According to SBJ archives, the burger chain operated 180 locations at the time the Rolf brothers opened their Campbell restaurant seven years ago. At the time, the brothers operated eight locations in Branson, Ozark, Nixa, Springfield and Arkansas.
On East Battlefield, Trepp records show a loan secured by the DeCasases for $1.41 million originated in November 2006. The loan was modified in August 2010, and a balance this month of $1.34 million remained.
Barrie said the other two Back Yard Burgers in Springfield were not tied to CMBS agreements.
Greene County Assessor records indicate the Campbell site is owned by Springfield-based C&M Realty Inc., and had a 2014 appraised value of $550,000. The Glenstone location is owned by the Levine Family Trust of Petaluma, Calif. Its 2014 appraised value is listed as $858,000.[[In-content Ad]]
Springfield event venue Belamour LLC gained new ownership; The Wok on West Bypass opened; and Hawk Barber & Shop closed on a business purchase that expanded its footprint to Ozark.
