Original TC Burger King closes, new uses eyed for site

Bill O'Brien, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·3 min read

Apr. 5—TRAVERSE CITY — One of Traverse City's original fast food eateries is no more.

The Burger King restaurant located at 1054 East Front Street near Garfield Ave. is closed and will not re-open, according to a statement Thursday from local franchise operators Traverse City Casciano Inc.

The restaurant dates to 1973 and was among the region's earliest fast food establishments, along with the McDonald's restaurant on East Front Street and the long-defunct Burger Chef location on East Front.

"After careful consideration, the Casciano Family has decided to announce the closure of the Burger King located at 1054 East Front Street in Traverse City ... Despite our longstanding presence at this location we believe consolidating operations will better serve the needs of our patrons," the company said.

Operations at the other local Burger Kings run by the family including US-31 in Acme, North U.S. 31 next to Meijer in Garfield Township, the US-31 location near Chums Corner, the site in Crossing Circle and the recently renovated site at Garfield and South Airport roads are not affected.

"Our other five Burger King restaurants in the area will continue to be committed to serving Traverse City and its surrounding communities with the same quality and dedication that we have strived for over the past 50 years," the company said.

The restaurant, located near the intersection with Garfield Ave., has been listed for sale for more than a year. It's continued operation was not in the company's long-term plans and the recently commenced road reconstruction project of East Front Street west of Garfield Township accelerated the decision to shutter the operation.

The property is drawing interest for a number of potential uses, according to Kevin Endres, the owner/broker of Three West Commercial Real Estate which is listing the site.

"I've gotten about three inquiries a week in the past month," Endres said.

Potential developers have expressed interest in an office building, multi-family housing or a mixed-use development with ground floor retail and apartments on the higher floors, he said. Endres dismissed some of the speculation circulating on social media including a Trader Joe's or a second Chick-Fil-A location.

Endres said there are two parcels totaling almost two acres available at the site. One is about 1.25 acres in size and includes the Burger King property and the adjacent Cuppa Joe Drive Through Coffee Bar at 1060 E. Front Street — property owned by the Cascianos. The other is a .65-acre separately-owned parcel immediately west which includes the former Prout Financial Services building and a small vacant lot. The asking price for the Casciano property was recently dropped to $2,850,000, he said, while the Prout property is listed at $1.25 million.

"There's lots of room to do a nice big project there," Endres said.

Traverse City zoning officials have also received various inquiries about the property, according to city zoning administrator David Weston.

"We've had a meeting with an individual looking at long-term housing there," Weston said. That took place in early March, he said. Another party inquired last year about a potential car wash business, although that would have run up against ingress and egress requirements of the city zoning ordinance. The property is divided between the city's Commercial-3 and Hotel/Resort zoning districts.

While the Cuppa Joe Drive Through Coffee Bar, which dates to 1999, is among the parcels listed for sale, the business continues to operate through the East Front Street reconstruction project and can be accessed via Garfield Avenue from Eighth Street.