The owners of Lexington’s Fayette Plaza are suing gourmet burger chain BurgerFi for unpaid rent and taxes on their location near Fayette Mall.
On March 9, Fayette Plaza CMBS filed a lawsuit alleging that BurgerFi stopped paying rent for its Fayette Mall storefront in November.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky also took legal action against BurgerFi in November for unpaid taxes. This was specific for the chain’s location near Hamburg Pavillion. Furthermore, a previous BurgerFi location in Lexington closed after being sued for unpaid rent in November 2021.
Between unpaid rent and taxes from both locations, BurgerFi is estimated to owe $605,500.
“This is an individual franchisee and not a corporate location and as such, any questions would need to be directed to the lease holder,” a BurgerFi spokesperson said in a statement. BurgerFi is a publicly traded corporation, meaning its assets and profits are shared with its stockholders.
This past February, the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet was awarded a default judgment in Franklin Circuit Court against MPVZ and Me Lexington, which operated the BurgerFi location at the Fayette Mall, for $189,580.48 in unpaid taxes.
According to Franklin tax filings, the Fayette Mall location has unpaid taxes dating back to November 2020.
The member of MPVZ and Me Lexington who appeared in court is listed as former Denver Nuggets basketball player Mike Miller. A Michael Lloyd Miller is listed as a member of MMBB Holding Company LLC, the company that operated the Hamburg Pavillion location.
BurgerFi opened its first Lexington location in March 2016, with two more opening in the same year.
All Lexington BurgerFi locations are now officially closed. The Hamburg Pavillion location closed in February. The Fayette Mall location closed in January, according to a spokesperson for the building owners. 15 BurgerFi stores closed in 2022, according to QSR Magazine.