[ardecila]

Laugh if you must, but McDonald's is not stupid. They may be an emblem of suburbia, but they're smart enough to recognize the potential for huge profits to be had by developing land in dense urban areas.

This particular McDonald's was owned by a franchise until recently, so the McDonald's corporation had no control over the disposition of the land. With his decision to exit the business and sell the location back to the company, he has unwittingly opened the land for redevelopment by placing it in the hands of people who can recognize its potential. I doubt McDonald's will develop the land itself, but on such a prominent site I can't imagine that developers haven't made offers; with a new owner, they may come back to make new offers.