Kalamazoo County To Transform McDonald’s Site Into New Admin Building

Big news has dropped as downtown Kalamazoo will no longer have any McDonald’s. More than a year after the McDonald’s on Riverview Drive closed down, the only remaining McDonald’s was off Kalamazoo Avenue in downtown Kalamazoo, but it turns out Kalamazoo County will be buying the current location and will be tearing it down.

They plan on replacing it with a new administration building for the city.

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WWMT has reported that the property value for that location is $9 million, and will need to be torn down, as commissioners have said the building itself is small and outdated for the needs of the new administration building.

The county gave WWMT the following statement regarding the purchase of the area.

Kalamazoo County is committed to keeping government services in the heart of downtown, where they remain central and accessible to all residents. We know a new administration building is needed to deliver modern, efficient service, and a new parking garage is already planned and funded. By securing the property across from the current Administration building, we can maximize taxpayer dollars, consolidate efforts, and ensure a modern facility that provides flexibility to expand as needs evolve.

As they continued, they cited struggles that would be faced had this not been their choice of action, and the necessity of the purchase and new building:

Renovating the current facility would cause years of service disruption and still leave the County without the space and technology required for the future.

Many people believe this ultimately is a good thing for this location, citing homelessness problems, unsanitary conditions, and bad service on a Facebook post.