Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) advised Kitchen United in leasing 12,708 square feet of industrial space at 201 N. Elizabeth Street in Chicago. Kitchen United signed the new, long-term lease in conjunction with NKF’s exclusive multi-city rollout of similar facilities around the U.S.
Kitchen United is a virtual kitchen company that provides restaurant operators with a value-driven, low-risk way to enter into new markets, grow revenue through off-premise dining and expand delivery areas by removing barriers such as capital or technology challenges. Each Kitchen United “kitchen center” is home to approximately 10 to 15 established restaurant brands that leverage the company’s expertise to grow its business on a local, regional or national basis.
With a significant national expansion plan aimed to support the consumer-driven shift toward fewer home-cooked meals, Kitchen United selected NKF to advise the fast-growing firm in identifying and securing suitable facilities in Chicago and several other markets. Kitchen United intends to open several more virtual kitchens in select markets by the end of 2019 and have 40 or more such centers open by the end of 2020. The firm’s plan is to build 400 kitchen centers and install 5,000 kitchens over the next few years. Kitchen United has secured $10 million in funding from GV (previously Google Ventures), Alphabet’s venture-capital group.
“Kitchen United’s new approach to off-premise food production is both well-timed and well-located. The firm’s ability to serve its target customers and area consumers from this Fulton Market location is second to none,” said NKF executive managing director Geoffrey Kasselman, SIOR, LEED AP. “It is exciting for NKF to support Kitchen United’s rollout here and in other markets around the country.”
The lease at the Elizabeth Street facility is Kitchen United’s second Chicago location, following a lease last year in River North. It is strategically located in the rapidly gentrifying Fulton Market submarket where the area’s demographics are becoming more favorable by the day, and immediate proximity to Loop consumers is profound. The NKF team comprising Kasselman and associate Chris Hill represented the firm in its Chicago site selection, analyses and lease negotiations.
