CRESWELL – McDonald’s is projected to open its golden arches to the Creswell community in 2025, despite Creswell’s moratorium on development.
The planning commission on Oct. 19 approved a McDonald’s to be built at 375 E. Oregon Ave. China Wok and Hot Shot Coffee will remain in their facilities regardless of the incoming McDonald’s, according to Drew Sanchez, area construction manager.
Now the McDonald’s team just needs to go through the building permit process and pay its system development charges (SDCs) to make it official, according to city planner Curtis Thomas.
Sanchez said the facility will employ about 50-70 people and is looking forward to reaching a new community.
“McDonald’s has a big push to open a lot of restaurants. That’s our focus right now: store development. So we’re trying to get as many of these open as we can as quickly as possible,” Sanchez said. “We do market studies based on trade gaps, so we felt it was a good spot to put another one that was far enough away from the others that wouldn’t impact sales and would accommodate customers for that area.”
This new McDonald’s location will showcase the company’s push to lean into technology.
“We heavily focused on digital: ordering from the app, ordering from the kiosk, mobile pickup, third-party deliveries,” Sanchez said. “That’s a big focus for us right now. While we want to create a good environment for the inside of the restaurant, we will make it very easy for a customer to get in and get out and get on with their morning, afternoon, and evening.”
Some community members were concerned about the potential traffic that the new establishment could cause near I-5. Sanchez said this was not a factor he considered because “McDonald’s isn’t a destination restaurant. It’s more of a convenience.”
He added that the City’s impact fees should cover any street congestion concerns the McDonald’s creates.
“We pay a good chunk of change to the City to help them with impact for improving roads and flows of traffic,” Sanchez said.
Some other development on the horizon in Creswell includes:
• A Taco Bell next to the Comfort Inn.
• A senior living facility is currently being built near the South Willamette Vet; it’s projected to be completed in two years.
• A new subdivision on South 9th for 26 low-density residential properties
Nathan Marple, owner of Nathan Marple Excavation, is the developer behind the new subdivision.
“It’s going great, but it’s stressful because there’s no guarantee the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will give us sewers,” Marple said. “That’s why I don’t gamble. I use all my luck on a daily basis.”
And Camas Swale Medical Clinic’s additional location behind Blue Valley Bistro will be presented to the planning commission at its next meeting on Nov. 16.
