The McDonald’s restaurant at 44 Division St. is closed as the owner prepares for a $2.5 million redevelopment of the property.
Demolition of the 44-year-old building is scheduled to start next week. A precise date wasn’t known as of Thursday morning.
A new McDonald’s restaurant is scheduled to be completed by mid-December.
The new restaurant will have an additional drive-thru lane. In addition, long-standing drainage issues at the property will be fixed.
Property owner Joseph Rodriguez owns 25 McDonald’s restaurants in the region, including two in Derby. He purchased the Division Street property about 10 years ago. It is long overdue for a facelift, Rodriguez said Thursday.
“We were way overdue for a rebuild, so we’re extremely excited that we were able to make this happen this year,” Rodriguez said. “We should be open by about the second week of December and we plan to have a ribbon-cutting and celebration.”
The Division Street McDonald’s is the fifth restaurant to be rebuilt by Rodriguez in about five years.
The Derby Planning and Zoning Commission approved the owner’s plans in March after about 90 days of review.
The restaurant will remain roughly the same size. The new store will have fewer seats inside, but more parking outside — in line with modern McDonald’s layouts.
The $2.5 million project is the most expensive redesign franchise owner Joseph Rodriguez has embarked upon. That’s due, in part, to the drainage issues.
The building and property gets flooded every time there is a heavy rain.
“The storm drains just don’t catch most of the water, so when it rains hard, everything comes into our building,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve lost sales because of that. Customers have not been happy. But we’ve worked with the community, the city and the fire department to help out.”
The new building will be at a slightly higher elevation to alleviate the water issues.
Rodriguez said the new store will be hiring an additional 50 people.
“We’re bringing in some new jobs to the Valley,” he said.
In addition to a double drive-thru, the building will be equipped with better technology. Video games, for example, will be offered at booths. It’s an effort to make the restaurant more welcoming to families.
“Derby is a tight-knit community, and we’re happy to be here,” Rodriguez said.
