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Just two weeks after once-popular Ray’s Hell Burger quielty closed down in Arlington, Va., owner Michael Landrum has formally requested to be let out of the existing lease.
The messy legal battle relates to the now-shuttered restaurant as 1650 Wilson Boulevard and is tied to Landrum’s ongoing financial struggles, which became public last fall when his restaurant group MLRG Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
According to the Washington Business Journal, the company owes $301,148 to WRIT Limited Partnership, a Washington REIT affiliate owner of the Bennett Park property. MLRG filed a reorganization plan on May 23. In this latest action, Landrum moved to reject the lease, saying it is “an ancillary operation and is a drain on income and resources” and “not necessary” for the parent company’s business operations.
The 4,000-square-foot property has been up for lease since earlier this year.
Landrum’s flagship restaurant, Ray's the Steaks in Courthouse, and the spin-off Ray’s Hell Burger he opened at 449 K Street NW in 2015, aren’t tied to the case and remain in operation.
