Magnolia construction projects are at a fever pitch. Last month, over $2.2 million in building permits were issued. But among them, two stood out.
McDonald’s in Magnolia is slated to construct a new $1.35 million building at its current location of 1127 E. Main Street. The current building, according to Columbia County Real Estate records, is 3,865 square feet and has a 2018 appraised value of $299,500. McDonald’s Corporation owns the property.
The burger giant has recently begun to steer away from its traditional, primary yellow and red color palette and its iconic shingle “burger house” design, and shift into a much more modern, sleek, and muted tonal range and design. The company has also now put more emphasis to feature its McCafé coffee line in many of its new builds.
Just last February, the restaurant debuted a steel framed, glass- and timber-heavy “flagship” location in Chicago. The chain has also been on a quest recently to make their restaurants “greener,” with upgrades to HVAC units and even some locations, such as the Chicago site, receiving solar panels to decrease energy consumption. There has been no announcement, though, on the exact design the Magnolia location will use.
By looking at its competition, especially throughout the fast food world, McDonald’s was due for a makeover. Even in Magnolia, where trends would presumably reach after their initial metro debuts, competitors Pizza Hut, Sonic, and Dairy Queen in the past three years have all remodeled or fully refurbished their locations, and Wendy’s has built a new restaurant altogether. It features more modern styling.
With the fast food architectural battle ongoing, smaller, less corporate units have popped up throughout Magnolia as well. The coffee house vibe has made the most headway it seems.
In the past two years, Magnolia as a whole, outside of a small station at SAU’s campus, went from having little to no coffee house locations, to three once a new N. Jackson venture is complete.
The square holds two locations, with Java Primo and The Perfect Cup, but Mule Kick, a project that began construction last month after its $310,000 building permit was issued, is not only slated to serve coffee in an eclectic setting, but also contain a native craft beer selection and a relaxed restaurant environment.
Just yards away from SAU’s campus and one lot over from Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, the restaurant is well within Arkansas norms to sell alcohol. Only if the site were a deemed liquor store, according to a representative from the Arkansas Beverage Control, would the state’s 1,000 foot alcohol schoolhouse and church variance be enacted.
“The law only applies to liquor stores,” said the ABC rep, “not restaurants.”
It’s also thought that no loud music or raucous crowds will be overflowing from the location. In fact, the owner has said that live music may be played there, but that it will only be tunes of the mellow, coffee-house persuasion.
Whether it be private or public, Magnolia is currently in the midst of a constriction boom. When accounting for the major, ongoing state highway widening along U.S. 79, the 82 B-371 repaving, or all of the new builds along the formerly sleepy corridor of N. Jackson leading to the southern end of SAU’s campus — Bodcaw Bank’s Magnolia Branch, the SAU Presidential manor, and now Mule Kick — or new building projects at Magnolia High School and the seemingly constant upgrading of Magnolia’s square, the number of ongoing builds is at a high point in recent memory. So much so, that it has caused some to even avoid places on their commutes.
“I don’t even go that way anymore,” said one social media poster Wednesday when discussing Hwy. 79.