A South Shore McDonald’s, across from Jackson Park, will be modernized Chicago style, with a green roof, iron fence and more.
The Oak Brook-based restaurateur will demolish the 1980s restaurant at 6560 S. Stony Island Ave. to make way for the new building.
The 4,439-square-foot restaurant will be replaced with a single-story, 4,709-square-foot, Chicago-style model that McDonald’s began using in the late 1990s, with a flat roofline, awnings, oversized windows and face brick.
McDonald’s will develop 2,046 square feet of landscaping that will include 10 trees and wrought-iron fencing along Stony Island. The new restaurant will have a drive-through lane.
The redevelopment was approved at the May Chicago Plan Commission meeting. Approval was needed because of the proximity to Lake Michigan.
Most noteworthy to city officials, the redevelopment will include an 1,112-square-foot green roof, though it is not required because the new building is less than 10,000 square feet.
“We would like to commend McDonald’s [for the green roof even though it is not required in their case],” a Department of Planning and Development project manager told commissioners.
“Over the last three or four years, we have been faced with companies who come here, want to develop businesses that are food prep or food production and argue vehemently that they cannot provide a green roof, even if mandatory, because they work with food. We argue that their food-preparation area is nowhere near the green roof. So we think McDonald’s is an example,” the manager said.
