To some extent this makes sense for a franchise. It allows McDonalds to use it’s real estate expertise to negotiate the best possible deal, then pass on the deal to the franchisee. If this wasn’t the case, every franchisee would have to become a real estate expert just to open a restaurant.

In the case of WeWork, this isn’t a franchise, WeWork has the ability to own the property outright and lease it out. The CEO owning the property effectively guarantees him a good return on his investment and his rent profit goes into his pocket while WeWork the company passes him the profit.

If there are holes in the logic please elaborate. That is the best I can compare the two.

I’m sure McDonald’s makes a bit of profit off of leasing to a franchisee, although I can’t say. In the case of McDonald’s it seems it is providing a valuable service to a franchisee. No need for a franchisee to try to negotiate property deals, nor put up real estate capital to own the land. McDonalds is effectively cutting out a 3rd Party landowner middleman that could arbitrarily raise rent once the restaurant is opened.