El Jannah expands with second Geelong restaurant in the wings
A leasing campaign has launched at 458 Torquay Rd, Armstrong Creek, joining El Jannah and Starbucks.
A second location for a fast-expanding charcoal chicken chain can be revealed in Geelong.
The Lebanese charcoal chicken sensation El Jannah is set to open its first Geelong outlet, on High St, Belmont, in September.
But it can be revealed that El Jannah has been slated to open a second store in the region, also in Geelong’s southern suburbs.
El Jannah has been promoted as an anchor tenant, along with global coffee chain Starbucks, in a new development at Armstrong Creek Town Centre.
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Colliers Geelong agent Chris Nanni said El Jannah and Starbucks had signed off-market deals to secure sites in the development.
Colliers has launched a leasing campaign for four retail tenancies within a neighbouring part of the development at 458 Torquay Rd, along with a separate project by the same developer at 10 Main St, Armstrong Creek.
“We’ve done deals at 458 Torquay Rd with El Jannah and Starbucks and we have four food and beverage or retail tenancies and they’re all 138sq m each,” Mr Nanni said.
A leasing campaign has launched at 458 Torquay Rd, Armstrong Creek, joining El Jannah and Starbucks.
“Then at 10 Main St, we’ve done deals with Planet Fitness and Headspace will go up stairs for an office,” Mr Nanni said.
“And then we’re in negotiations with another national group on the ground floor.
“We’ve leased half of both buildings, both projects, off market and now we’ll go to the market with the rest,” Mr Nanni said.
Construction is expected to start within weeks, he said.
The tenancies are expected to be available in mid-2026.
Construction is expected to start soon on the Armstrong Creek Town Centre project.
While a lot of the projects have been in the pipeline for some time, Mr Nanni said developers and operators had waited for the local population to reach a point where it was time to build.
“Critical mass is required for a lot of these retails to start thinking about opening stores,” he said.
“It’s good to see HomeCo is activating that site on behalf of Woolies,” he said.
Mr Nanni said several childcare operators were also in the process of opening in the area.
The Sydney-based charcoal chicken chain has an ambitious plan to open 150 new restaurants across Australia in the next two years, significantly increasing its presence and bringing its unique flavour profile to a wider audience.
El Jannah chief executive Brett Houldin unveiled the company’s aggressive growth strategy in an exclusive interview with News Corp Australia recently.
El Jannah chief executive officer Brett Houldin revealed drive-through or shopfront locations were the chain’s preferred format as part of expansion plans. Picture: Jonathan Ng
El Jannah dishes. Chicken, fattoush salad and tabouleh.
“Drive-through or shopfront locations are our preferred format, and we have been very successful with the drive-throughs,” he said.
“I think they’ve had a real renaissance post-Covid with consumers, so we’re keen to keep growing in that regard.”
The company is betting big that its distinctive Lebanese-style charcoal chicken, coupled with its commitment to quality and fresh ingredients, will resonate with consumers nationwide.
“We are obviously keen to keep growing and have a goal of reaching 100 restaurants in the next two years and 200 in the next five years because we believe that there is demand there, so we’re very keen to keep finding great locations,” Mr Houldin said.
Today, El Jannah is one of several fast-growing brands – along with Portuguese chicken outlets such as Frango and Korean-themed restaurants NeNe, Gami and Supreme Leader – to challenge the domination of cheaper fast-food chains such as KFC, Red Rooster and Oporto.
