New McDonald's Opens in Old Location in Middle River

While the latest McDonald’s in Middle River has all the modern amenities customers expect today, its location is anything but new.

The McDonald’s at reopened for business on Dec. 7 after being closed for several months so the fast-food chain could demolish the old building and rebuild at the same location on Martin Boulevard.

“The old building’s design dated back to the 1970s,” said franchisee Scott Rardin, who owns the Middle River McDonald’s along with 13 other McDonald's stores in the region. “In this business and in this economy, it’s all about staying ahead of the competition.”

The new McDonald’s is part of a $1 billion-dollar initiative by McDonald’s—launched in 2006—to remake many of its restaurants nationwide.

The fast-food industry giant plans to renovate or rebuild most franchises within the next five years, including about 100 in the region, Dave Neiss, director of redevelopment for McDonald’s in the Baltimore-Washington region, .

The most noticeable characteristic common to all the updated buildings is a single golden swoop along the roof, replacing the double arches that customers have grown to look for when craving McDonald's.

Among the other items at the are two drive-thru lanes, additional seating, flat-screen TVs and interactive video games for children at certain tables. There is also free Wi-Fi available.

“We’re very pleased with how the building looks,” Rardin said. “We believe this will make our location much more customer-friendly and will really make our service faster.”

Rardin, who also owns the , said he expects to drastically remodel and upgrade that building over the next few years, but won’t be rebuilding that facility.

“The Hawthorne location is much newer than the [old] one at Martin Plaza [was],” Rardin said. “But, when we’re done with the upgrades we expect the lobby area to look almost exactly like our new buildings.”