KCRag Forum

Midtown McDonald's looks to be doing a tear-down, rebuild.

From the development tracker:

Site Plan: http://maps.kcmo.org/kcgis/rest/service ... ents/24966

Elevations: http://maps.kcmo.org/kcgis/rest/service ... ents/24965

This is a pretty lazy site plan job, even for a fast food franchise. They've got it set up so the drive thru windows face Main. This layout also forces Main Street pedestrians to enter right at the end of the drive-thru. The city should push for them to rotate the building 180 degrees, at the very least.

Unfortunately, fast food places always insist on the drive through wrapping around 3/4 of the building, which would mean a. This or b. getting the building up against the sidewalk but adding a curb cut like this: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8932263 ... 312!8i6656

If they could accept a drive through only on the back side, the restaurant would front the street, and they could just use the midtown market curb cuts, getting rid of the one they have now. But good luck getting that.

tower wrote:Unfortunately, fast food places always insist on the drive through wrapping around 3/4 of the building, which would mean a. This or b. getting the building up against the sidewalk but adding a curb cut like this: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8932263 ... 312!8i6656

If they could accept a drive through only on the back side, the restaurant would front the street, and they could just use the midtown market curb cuts, getting rid of the one they have now. But good luck getting that.

You don't even have to go that ambitious though. There's already locations in the KC metro that could work better here.

For instance, they could easily rotate the building to face north, like Merriam's:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0218098 ... a=!3m1!1e3

Parking could remain pretty much as proposed, to keep the franchisee happy, but there'd be more glazing facing Main, and a safer connection for pedestrians. The only downside is that cars would have to circle around to get in line.

If not that, why not bring the building to the lot's corner, like on Rainbow Blvd? https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0505479 ... a=!3m1!1e3

That doesn't help with street activation, but it at least brings it more in line with an urban lot line. It would also require regrading, but could eliminate the Main curb cut.

ugh. what problem is this solving? since it's a teardown/rebuild, i wonder if it would be subject to the new special character district that's about to be approved.

DaveKCMO wrote:ugh. what problem is this solving?

Cockroaches? I think it's the same owner as the one on Broadway, which was rebuilt several years ago supposedly for the same reason.

DaveKCMO wrote:ugh. what problem is this solving? since it's a teardown/rebuild, i wonder if it would be subject to the new special character district that's about to be approved.

God let's hope

I suspect it's a condition of retaining the franchise rights - McDonald's are torn down and rebuilt in the same location much, much more frequently than any other fast-food chain.

This location is disgustingly filthy. Used to be the one thing you could count on at McD's was cleanliness standards. Besides, the owner campaigned against the last citywide light rail vote. Boycott.

That McDonalds is a disaster! Computers always broken, drive thru gets stuck and painfully slow. They always needed the new double drive up configuration as the lines back up very often. Not a fan of the design but, it’s a McDonalds. They’re never going to be in Architectural Digest. (No pun intended)

Protip: Don’t eat at any McDonalds

beautyfromashes wrote:That McDonalds is a disaster! Computers always broken, drive thru gets stuck and painfully slow. They always needed the new double drive up configuration as the lines back up very often. Not a fan of the design but, it’s a McDonalds. They’re never going to be in Architectural Digest. (No pun intended)

there are mcdonalds without drive thrus that actually contribute to the urban fabric.

DaveKCMO wrote:
there are mcdonalds without drive thrus that actually contribute to the urban fabric.

Midtown Marketplace...urban fabric.

beautyfromashes wrote:

DaveKCMO wrote:
there are mcdonalds without drive thrus that actually contribute to the urban fabric.

Midtown Marketplace...urban fabric.

gotta start somewhere.