Food Hall and Entertainment Use Leasing: Practical Considerations, Key Provisions for Landlords and Tenants

One of the hottest new trends in the hospitality industry is the food hall. The number of food halls in the United States has increased exponentially and has tripled since 2018. Unlike the traditional shopping center food court, the food hall is typically an entertainment complex combining fine dining, bar atmospheres, and live entertainment forums in one location.

Food halls bring unique legal challenges, including artful drafting of leases, supporting documents, and operational rules that differ for each food hall facility.

Similarly, entertainment uses present additional and varied legal considerations relative to typical retail tenants. Theaters today are often accompanied by the sale of prepared food and alcohol. Other entertainment uses have entered the scene, including indoor skydiving, golfing, escape experiences, and even ax-throwing. The unique situation created by COVID-19 and the potential threats of future highly transmissible diseases has recentered the needs and legal liabilities of these industries.

Entertainment uses present unique challenges to the landlord and the tenant to achieve the balance between allowing the tenant to operate its business while offering protection to the landlord to ensure the entertainment use does not interfere with the project's operations. Parking, exclusive uses, prohibited uses, signage, visibility, access, noise, and security are just some of many items that play a role in lease negotiations between a landlord and prospective entertainment tenant.

Listen as our panel of experts in real property transactions provides practical guidance on how to best address the issues and balance the interests of each party involved.