McDonald's in downtown Dallas, Texas loses drive-thru permit

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One of the most suburban tourist attractions in the heart of downtown Dallas, yet a fixture there for decades, is on the verge of extinction.

The permit allowing the McDonald's at 1000 Commerce Street to operate a drive-thru operation expired on Dec. 8. The fast-food restaurant will be located just a few blocks from the city's tallest tower in a largely undeveloped area of ​​downtown that city leaders and developers want. Notably, the soon-to-be-redeveloped Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center is just a short walk away.

The expiration of the permit threatens a rare breed of McDonald's restaurants located downtown in Texas' major urban centers. There is no McDonald's downtown in either Austin or Houston. There is also one in downtown San Antonio, in a historic building near the Alamo and River He Walk attractions. There is no drive-thru.

On the surface, this looks like a debate over one McDonald's, but it speaks to a deeper calculation about the future of downtown Dallas. Social media commenters dream of a central business district that's not car-centric. But these Golden Arches have also provided affordable meals to countless North Texans, including nearby residents and workers who may stop by more times than they would like to admit. It's a battle of his two conflicting visions of downtown. One is the walkability of the city, and the other is the convenience of the suburbs.

“Now we have these beautiful parks and we're building dynamic neighborhoods throughout downtown and trying to connect them,” said Jennifer Scripps, president and CEO of Downtown Dallas. “But we're looking at what's holding us back right now.” Of course, having a lot of cars in line isn't ideal for our goals, but that being said, there are plenty of people who take advantage of it. ”

A special use permit is required because zoning regulations typically do not allow drive-thrus in downtown Dallas. McDonald's filed an application to renew its permit on December 7th.

Despite the expiration date, the permit remains valid while the application is reviewed by city staff, a city spokesperson said. The issue of whether to renew the permit will be brought before the City Planning Commission and the Dallas City Council, but no date has been set.

There was a McDonald's on the property probably back in 1979. The restaurant was built to replace the turn-of-the-century Dorsey Building, which was demolished that same year, according to an archived New York Times article about the closing. baker hotel.

The drive-thru permit was originally issued when the restaurant was renovated around 2000, with an option for automatic renewal every 10 years, but the process still required the property owner to submit an application. In 2021, McDonald's license expired because it did not apply within the deadline.

That sent the permit back to the Planning Commission and City Council for a public meeting, where city leaders were concerned about giving the drive-thru the go-ahead for another 10 years. City Planning Commissioner Melissa Kingston, who represents District 14, where McDonald's is located, pushed for the permit to be renewed, but it was not automatically renewed and will expire in two years. It was passed by the City Council.

Jimmy Lopez, McDonald's development director, told the Planning Commission in 2021 that the company was unable to submit a renewal application because city staff sent notices to an engineer and former employee who had not worked for the fast food company in 10 years. He said he was late. . Complicating matters is that McDonald's offices have been closed for about a year and a half due to the pandemic.

The company eventually received a renewal notice, but the permit had already expired. But several commissioners at the time said businesses should have been able to track permit renewals instead of relying on city notifications.

District 14 City Councilman Paul Ridley echoed many of Kingston's concerns.

“I think there are very rare cases where a 10-year grace period should be given.” [special-use permits] For drive-ins. Ridley said at the 2021 City Council meeting that while it's not customary, especially in such an urban area, “this is not a profitable location, so I'm concerned that it will deteriorate over time and not be reinvested in.” “I am doing so,” he said. An opportunity will be given to monitor the operation after two years. ”

Attempts to contact Ridley for this story were unsuccessful.

Ridley's comments about the restaurant's profitability came after Lopez said the restaurant has been operating at a loss and not making much profit since the pandemic. Lopez said the company invested more than $1 million in store renovations at the end of 2019.

“No matter how difficult the area is, we want to serve our customers in the downtown area of ​​Dallas. We will continue to reinvest,” Lopez said at the time.

The store is operated by franchisee McAllen McDonald LP. As of 2021, the restaurant had 64 employees, McAllen Operations Director Rob Hernandez told the City Council at the time.

“If we lose the drive-thru, we're going to lose more than half of those customers. We're going to lose a lot of sales and we're going to lose a lot of the customer base around that store,” Hernandez said. Ta.

Kingston expects the case to be presented to the commission later this year. The city council will then vote on it. In an interview with the Dallas Business Journal, Kingston was asked if he supported renewing the special use permit, to which he replied, “He absolutely does not.”

“I very rarely do auto-renewals, especially in cases like this, because I think it deprives the community and the city of the opportunity to review their usage,” she said.

Kingston said downtown has changed dramatically in the 20 years since auto-renewal was granted, and potential development around the property and increased downtown residences will require more pedestrian-friendly facilities. Stated. He said residents who live downtown want to walk their dogs and ride their bikes and scooters, but the flow of traffic in and out of the streets makes it difficult to do so.

“Look, if you're going to have a vibrant downtown, you can't have a bunch of drive-thrus. It has to be walkable,” Kingston said.

He said he wants to prioritize the people and businesses that call downtown home, rather than people who work downtown and eat dinner on their way home somewhere else.

“Drive-thru use, especially use like this one that relies heavily on drive-through, doesn't mix well with the park across the street and a lot of pedestrians,” she said. They have plenty of time to restructure their business and reimagine it as a business that doesn't require a drive-through component, but they haven't done it. ”

Franchisee McAllen McDonald's sought to increase support for drive-thrus in early 2024.

In January, an image of a sign hanging on a restaurant's door gained attention on Reddit and other social media platforms. In a sign that is no longer posted on the door, the franchisee said the drive-thru has been “forced to close” by the City Council and Planning Commission.

The sign urges guests to scan a QR code, which will send a pre-written email to Mayor Eric Johnson and other City Council members requesting permit renewals and requesting that Ridley and It would argue that the vision of a walkable downtown that Kingston praised would become a reality. It didn't come close to McDonald's stores.

The email also claimed that the franchisee offered to add multiple pickup options, including a walk-up window, but those were “rejected.”

Craig York, owner and operator of McAllen McDonald's, referred questions to McDonald's Corp., which owns the land and is working with the contractor on the zoning case. McDonald's did not respond to a request for comment.

Kingston said most of the communications she received as a result of this campaign were actually against drive-thrus. She said, “Whatever they were trying to create with the drive-thru was counterproductive.”

According to the Dallas Central Appraisal District, the land on which McDonald's stands is worth five times as much as the building itself, with the land alone valued at $1.7 million.

Several prominent landowners control the parcels surrounding McDonald's. Metropolis Investment Holdings, owner of Dallas' tallest skyscraper, Bank of America Plaza, owns the entire block southeast of the intersection of Lamar and Commerce streets, excluding the McDonald's. Metropolis also owns the entire block north of McDonald's and south of the skyscraper.

Just west of the McDonald's and Metropolis sites is the downtown Greyhound bus station, which is scheduled to close when its lease expires in October, according to the Dallas Morning News. An entity that shares an address with Twenty Lake Capital LLC, a Connecticut-based investment firm, acquired the station in late 2022, according to Dallas County records.

And just south of McDonald's, Ray Washburn Charter Holdings owns Founders Square, a 1914 office property that was renovated in 2015.

Dustin Bullard, director of urban strategy at Charter Holdings, said drive-thrus are a good option for urban environments because they encourage people to drive downtown and quickly leave because drive-thrus bring too much traffic onto the roads. The company said it believes it should not be allowed.

”[Special-use permits] It should be granted for the benefit of the community, something that contributes to the neighborhood. “I don't believe that's the case today. If we're going to bring all these people into downtown Dallas and have them enjoy it, they need to experience a walkable urban environment,” Bullard said in an interview. You know, it's not like using a vehicle in the suburbs. ”

Bullard said the company also hopes the adjacent Greyhound station will be acquired by a new owner, whether Charter Holdings or someone else, for redevelopment that preserves the existing building in some way. He added that there is.

“It changes the field,” Bullard said. “He has two incidents of heavy vehicle use today.”

Downtown is on the brink of major change. Scripps said the roughly $3 billion plan to redo the convention center could revitalize other areas of downtown, including the West End, Main Street and the AT&T Discovery District.

“We are very interested in the many opportunities in the neighborhood where McDonald's is sort of ground zero,” she said. “The vision statement we put out for the convention center is to create a truly unique, dynamic, 24/7 community that attracts and attracts not only visitors and convention attendees, but also locals who want to stay in the area. Includes: Downtown.

The organization wants McDonald's to take a different approach to service, similar to how Chick-fil-A opened a new location on Elm Street in National, serving downtown office workers without a drive-thru. He said he would be interested in.

Perhaps restaurant chains will reconsider car-centric restaurants. In 2021, District 15 Commissioner Brent Rubin noted that McDonald's is used to operating in walkable, metropolitan environments.

“If you go to New York City, you can see McDonald's integrated into the fabric of the city,” Rubin said at the time. “If they want to continue operating here, I know they have the ability to do it in a way that aligns with the direction of downtown.”