Lansing Approves Revised McDonald’s Plan for Former Florist

By Olivia Hart

Lansing’s Board of Zoning Appeals has approved a revised McDonald’s site plan for the former Jon Anthony Florist building on Michigan Avenue with one zoning variance.

The sole concession permits a driveway on North Hosmer Street. With the necessary approvals now in place, McDonald’s is expected to complete the purchase by the end of the year; demolition would follow the sale.

What changed in Lansing’s zoning review?

Interest in buying the property first surfaced in December 2025. The initial request was denied because, in the board’s stated findings, the proposed project required “several variances to Lansing’s zoning ordinance.”

A new site plan then reduced the zoning burden to one variance. The board approved that revision, making access from North Hosmer Street the remaining stated condition for moving ahead.

That is a significant procedural change, but it does not complete the development. Public details do not identify the other variances sought under the first design, so the redesign’s effect on the building, traffic or nearby blocks cannot be evaluated from the released information.

The approval clears the zoning hurdle identified in the project’s history. It does not close the sale, begin demolition or establish when the restaurant will open.

The available details provide no basis for answering the basic development and operating questions:

• No construction schedule or public opening date
• No purchase price, capital budget, sales forecast or sales target
• No projected average check, cost of goods, labor percentage or wage figure
• No hiring plan, vendor commitments or local-purchasing plan
• No local franchisee or company-operated designation

McDonald’s is the chain named in the transaction, but the available details identify no local franchisee and do not designate the restaurant as company-operated. That distinction matters because the operator will set staffing levels, approve suppliers and control menu pricing once the store opens.

Without that information, the proposal offers no credible basis for estimating sales, margins or the eventual labor burden. It also leaves open how a future operator would approach sourcing, pricing and staffing at the Michigan Avenue site.

What does this change for Michigan Avenue?

Jon Anthony Florist closed in June 2025 after serving the Lansing community for 84 years. The building has remained empty since then, but its next use now looks increasingly likely to be a McDonald’s rather than a preserved local storefront.

For Michigan Avenue, the practical answer is that the project has moved from a zoning proposal to an approved site plan, not yet to an operating restaurant. The purchase remains pending, no public opening date has been set and the building has sat empty since June 2025.

For the property, the change is more immediate. Once the sale closes, demolition will clear the way for the new fast-food location.

Greater Lansing residents have been particularly vocal in opposing the chain proposal. Their concern centers on the demolition of a building they believe should remain a local landmark, rather than on the arrival of another dining option alone.

The zoning decision resolves the variance issue, not that preservation debate. Public objections do not erase the board’s approval, but they show the project’s local reception remains unsettled as its regulatory path advances.

The reaction remains relevant at the next stage because the next step is physical rather than administrative: a year-end sale would lead to demolition of the building residents want preserved.

For nearby businesses, the proposal leaves the operating questions unanswered. Without investment, employment or local-spending figures, the available details cannot show how the project would translate into revenue for the surrounding market.

Until McDonald’s names an operator, menu and supplier arrangements remain unknown, so the project cannot yet be judged on local purchasing, menu pricing or labor practices. The next checkpoint is the property closing, which McDonald’s expects to complete by the end of the year. If the sale proceeds, demolition comes next; without an operator announcement and construction timeline, an opening date remains undisclosed.