S. Jefferson Fast Food Shuffle

S. Jefferson Fast Food Shuffle

I promise this post on fast food will be shorter than my past ones.

On South Jefferson near Gravois, two fast food properties are on the market: one occupied under a long-term lease and for sale, the other vacant and for lease.

Rally's @ 2807 S. Jefferson and Lynch. This tiny 1988 drive-thru/walk-up only burger pit is under a 25-year lease by Rally's that extends to 2028.

Sale price for the 15,881 square-foot property (with 771 square-foot building): $734,400!

Former Burger King @ 2500 S. Jefferson and Victor, backing to Gravois. This 1986 drive-thru plus dining room facility closed earlier this spring, and is now boarded up (the picture online, of course, doesn't show that).

Monthly rent for the 3,200 square-foot space with drive-thru: $5,333.33. That's $64,000 per year, or $20.00 per square-foot per year.

Are these places really worth that kind of dough for the owners/operators/investors? It seems a little exorbitant to me.

And such high prices totally preclude development of such sites for alternative, more urban-friendly uses.

Meanwhile, nearby at Gravois and Texas, a former KFC outlet boarded up for at least five years, has been reopened as J & J Fish and Chicken, or something like that. It doesn't seem to have a drive-thru.

I appreciate these establishments provide affordable dining options (which I have used myself), and entry-level job opportunities right in the city.

But who really wants to own or lease a 20-year-old giant grease trap?