The first El Jannah opened in Granville, in Sydney’s west, in 1998. Its Lebanese-born founders, the Estephan family, built the business on charcoal chicken and a garlic sauce that customers still queue for. Twenty-eight years later the brand has 64 stores across New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT, is opening roughly one new store every two weeks, and has a new owner. New York growth investor General Atlantic acquired it in November 2025 in a deal the Australian Financial Review reported at close to $1 billion, a price neither party has disclosed.

The numbers behind that interest are significant. El Jannah is projected to exceed $400 million in annual sales in FY2026, supported by more than 160,000 transactions a week, and it has set its sights on almost 200 stores domestically and eventually international markets, including the Middle East. Chief executive Brett Houldin said at the time of the sale that General Atlantic’s backing would fuel the next five years of growth in more markets, at home and overseas, while protecting the brand’s soul and authenticity.
Much of that growth is happening at the roadside. CBRE Research’s June 2026 quick service restaurant report found that purpose-built double and triple lane drive-thrus are becoming the new development standard. It also found that drive-thru pads are increasingly anchoring convenience precincts and large format retail centres. The same report named El Jannah and Guzman y Gomez among the newer brands becoming key players through format innovation, and listed brand maturity and a deepening buyer pool among the sector’s defining trends.

Wollert, 36 kilometres north of the Melbourne CBD, shows the model at work. El Jannah’s new restaurant sits on Craigieburn Road East, an arterial carrying more than 94,000 vehicles a week, beside McDonald’s, KFC and a BP. Behind it is Villawood’s Rathdowne estate, with about 1,100 homes, and a $150 million Coles-anchored town centre is still to come. More than 17,900 homes are under construction or approved within a 6km radius, and the City of Whittlesea is forecast to pass 360,000 residents by 2041.

“The fast food precinct is opening ahead of the town centre, which is exactly how these growth corridors develop. Operators secure the corner early, and the rest of the retail follows.’ Matthew Wright, Senior Director, CBRE Capital Markets, Private Wealth

The El Jannah offering is Lot 2 of 17 Symphony Lane, a freehold allotment of about 1,572 square metres with its own title and no shared common area. The restaurant is a 295 square metre building completed in 2026 to El Jannah’s latest corporate design. It has a single-lane wrap-around drive-thru and 14 on-title car spaces. The lease runs for 20 years to August 2046, with two further 10-year options to 2066. Fixed 3 per cent annual increases apply, and net income is about $342,670 a year plus GST. On that schedule, the $350,000 headline rent compounds to about $613,727 by 2045, a rise of roughly 75 per cent.

“El Jannah has grown from a single Granville store to a national network, with a vertical integration different to other operators and this restaurant is the format that growth is built on: a new drive-thru, in a new precinct, on a new 20-year lease.’

Shifts in household spending add to the appeal. CBRE’s research notes that tightening budgets under elevated inflation and higher mortgage costs have prompted consumers to trade down from casual dining to quick service restaurants. For owners of well-located drive-thru sites, that trend supports the underlying demand for the product.
New construction also brings tax benefits. JM Advisory has provided indicative depreciation schedules estimating a first-year deduction of about $202,000, subject to each purchaser’s circumstances and independent tax advice.

“What investors respond to is the combination: a brand with greater national ambitions, a brand-new building to its latest design, and fixed annual increases across a 20-year term.’

El Jannah at Wollert is offered through CBRE’s Investment Portfolio Auction, alongside the neighbouring Guzman y Gomez, and each investment is sold individually. Full details are on the El Jannah Wollert listing.