A prominent local investor has acquired a west suburban property that’s leased to Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chão.
Belgravia Group chairman Buzz Ruttenberg paid just over $9 million for the 11,800-square-foot building at 1204 West 22nd Street in Oak Brook, CoStar reported. The seller was Houston-based Hines, which developed the building in 2021 as part of a mixed-use project called Oak Brook Commons.
Ruttenberg’s purchase is part of a 1031 exchange, allowing him to defer capital gains taxes by swiftly reinvesting in real estate. The deal was facilitated by a $5 million loan from Lakeside Bank, carrying an annual rate of return surpassing 6 percent but below the 7.25 percent interest rate on the loan, the outlet said.
Dallas-based Fogo de Chão’s Oak Brook lease runs through 2044. Fogo de Chão, which could go public under Bain Capital’s ownership, is planning to open an 8,500-square-foot location in Schaumburg, just north of the Woodfield Mall. It’s part of the restaurant chain’s ambitious expansion plan; it opened 22 locations this year.
Despite broader market challenges like rising interest rates, Ruttenberg is optimistic.
“It’s a 20-year lease, I’ve long been a fan of Fogo de Chão, and it’s a great corner,” Ruttenberg told the outlet. “In the event they ever chose to leave, there would undoubtedly be a lot of interest in the space.”
While Hines’ reasons for selling are unclear, the deal’s structure puts Fogo de Chão in a single-tenant, net-lease arrangement. This requires the restaurant to shoulder all building-associated costs until the lease expires.
It’s part of a growing trend of local buyers favoring single-tenant properties, said Nicholas Kanich of Marcus & Millichap, who represented Hines in the sale.
“Because of the uncertainty of the market, it seems like there’s a higher level of comfort in knowing the intricacies of the local market,” he told the outlet. “If you know the property well, and you’ve driven by it many times, it just provides a little more peace of mind.”
—Quinn Donoghue
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