Ottawa’s notorious Rideau Street McDonald’s closing permanently
The notorious McDonald’s restaurant on Rideau Street in downtown Ottawa is closing its doorways this spring.
The property proprietor tells CTV News Ottawa the franchise proprietor determined to not renew the lease and the restaurant will shut in April. The area will probably be obtainable for lease beginning in July.
“We knew that they may not be there; it wasn’t a big surprise,” Peter Crosthwaite, asset supervisor at 60 George St., informed CTV News Ottawa. The restaurant opened in 1985.
“They are a pretty dynamic organization, they have the right to look at different spots and maybe they felt the time was right,” Crosthwaite stated. “But there’s maybe things that made it seem more right than usual.”
The restaurant within the coronary heart of Ottawa’s vacationer district turned a infamous spot for late night time crowds after final name at bars and eating places. The McDonald’s gained explicit notoriety following the discharge of a video filmed in December 2013 exhibiting a person pull a child raccoon out of his sweater whereas others have been concerned in a struggle.
In 2019, then-Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau despatched a letter to the President and CEO of McDonald’s Canada to lift considerations about “ongoing criminal activity and social disorder” on the Rideau Street location. McDonald’s then diminished its hours of operation to six a.m. to 10 p.m. following a gathering with police. It had been open for twenty-four hours a day.
Ottawa police say they have been referred to as to the restaurant greater than 150 occasions in 2022, considerably decrease than the greater than 800 requires service in 2018 that prompted the situation to alter its hours.
Crosthwaite tells CTV News Ottawa he thinks McDonald’s began seeing losses once they stopped working 24 hours a day. He provides there have been different challenges for companies on Rideau Street, together with McDonald’s.
“The city tore up Rideau Street and put the subway in. Then they re-tore it to enhance it, put curbing in,” Crosthwaite stated.
“The freedom rallies and we had COVID; all these things are upheavals that can’t make it easy for a steady, reliable operation.”
CTV News reached out to McDonald’s for remark, however didn’t obtain a response.
An inventory on Spacelist, a industrial actual property web site, reveals Unit 101 at 60 George Street obtainable for lease, beginning within the third quarter of 2023.
“Great branding opportunity in the ByWard Market! Prime location with about 40’ of frontage on Rideau St. directly across from the Rideau Shopping Centre,” the itemizing says, noting Unit 101 is a restaurant area with venting in place.
“Additional entrance on George St. with about 25’ of frontage. Strong exposure with a constant high level of pedestrian and vehicle traffic. Street parking nearby and great transit service.”
The itemizing says the lease for Unit 101 may be mixed with Unit 108, which is an empty area subsequent to the McDonald’s.
The McDonald’s restaurant on Rideau Street is at the moment open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day for takeout solely. The eating room stays closed to clients.
McDonald’s will nonetheless have places in downtown Ottawa on Elgin Street and on Bank Street.
