“This is the kind of economic development for the township we’ve been looking for,” Hartkemeyer said. “McDonald’s tends to be a very good neighbor, and a storage facility can be helpful to residents of the township.”
McDonald’s is opening at the same tw0-acre site that had been slated for a Quaker Steak and Lube restaurant, which was announced in 2012. However, that project failed to get off the ground when the construction costs turned out to be too high, Jim Combs, president of Paragon Restaurant Group, the developer of that project, previously told the Journal-News. The price for the building had been projected at $1.2 million, but estimates came in at $1.7 million, he said.
The McDonald’s will be a corporate-owned restaurant, said Julie Vonderhaar, the assistant township administrator. It will most likely be a standard McDonald’s with a drive-through. As of now, there are no road infrastructure changes planned in connection with the restaurant, and there is no definite projected opening date, Vonderhaar said.
The township has been looking to boost its economic development lately, having formed a Community Improvement Corporation, which had its organizational meeting earlier this week. The idea of a CIC is to buy low-cost properties that most businesses wouldn’t want, and work with developers to turn them into viable properties.
Ken Geis, the township’s interim administrator, assisted with such a corporation in Union Twp. in Clermont County, where he is the full-time administrator. The blighted Biggs Place Mall became the second location for Jungle Jim’s through the Community Improvement Corporation.
Hartkemeyer is the president of the Community Improvement Corporation, and Trustee John McGinnis is the vice president. The township’s fiscal officer, Nancy Bock, is the secretary and treasurer, while Vonderhaar is the executive director.
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