18 months of negotiations between the city of New Orleans, neighborhood associations and McDonalds finally have paid off to get approval to demolish and rebuild an iconic restaurant brand on the famous avenue.
Please see the below article courtesy of Uptown Messenger:
http://uptownmessenger.com/2018/12/city-council-approves-plan-to-replace-mcdonalds-building-in-garden-district/#more-72040
This much lauded McDonald’s restaurant which has prospered for the past 34 years has finally reached its functional obsolescence.
1. The second floor dining area, which contains the majority of the restaurant seating and is visually cut off from the main operation, was impossible to supervise and rarely utilized by customers.It was eventually closed for concerns of security for both workers and patrons, severely limiting the seating capacity of the restaurant.
2. At some point,the adjacent property on the downtown side became available and was incorporated into the site as sorely needed additional parking. This annexation left the massing of the building proportionally off-center, a hole in the street scape.•
3. The current configuration of the site does not lend itself to efficient vehicle maneuvering for either the customer or for service vehicles. This congestion causes a bottleneck on site which leads to a back up of cars,hindering the traffic on St. Charles Avenue. McDonald’s, which built it’s reputation on speed and efficiency of service, has developed new patterns of onsite traffic flow, including having two drive through order points and traffic bypass lanes. To implement this efficient scheme requires locating the building more centered on the site.
4. McDonald’s has always prided itself on the customer experience and today is very focused on this aspect. As mentioned before, the majority of the current dining configuration is located in an inaccessible unsupervised upstairs dining room. Not only is an increase in ground level seating a must, but the current building does not relate the customer well to the Avenue.
The proposal affords a fantastic opportunity to pull the dining room forward with an entrance relating directly to the sidewalk and Avenue. Blow out the front wall to create a light filled open dining space where patrons can enjoy the avenue’s ambiance of beautiful Oaks, Street cars, and history.
