The Restaurant Rent Crisis: How Landlords Can Make More Money With Empty Buildings

Could this be happening here? There sure are a lot of restaurants closing lately.

"When you walk past another empty storefront with a “For Lease” sign that never changes, you see the new math of American capitalism. Some restaurants are dying slow deaths from rent they can’t afford. Landlords learned something new and ugly. Property owners know that empty buildings pay better than full ones.

This isn’t about landlords doing something evil. This is about a system where banks, tax codes, and speculation turned vacant restaurant spaces into profit centers. The math is brutal and simple. For many landlords, keeping your favorite restaurant out means keeping more money in.

The Tax Game Nobody Talks About

Cook County in Illinois gave landlords property tax reductions for vacant commercial spaces¹. You read that right. Keep your building empty and pay less in taxes. The county assessor lowers your property value, and that cuts your tax bill.

The Cook County Assessor’s Office policy states that “commercial property appeals for vacancy can be granted because of a casualty or after the owner has made a good faith effort to lease the property but hasn’t been successful²”. For residential properties, vacancy relief only applies to casualty situations like fires or floods. Commercial properties get relief just by showing they tried to lease the space.

Put a “For Lease” sign in the window. Show some effort. Get the tax break.

“Vacancy reduces the assessed value of a property, which generally reduces the property’s taxes,” states the Cook County Assessor’s official policy³. The policy notes concern about “some properties being granted an excessive percentage of vacancy and gaining property tax relief” while “other property owners could be paying more of the property tax burden than they should be³”.

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