Fahey: Lady's Island McDonald's to reopen this spring

Earlier this week, the 23-year-old Lady's Island McDonald's at 177 Sea Island Parkway was demolished.

In its place, a new McDonald's will open this spring.

But with a completely different aesthetic, touchscreen technology and atypical McDonald's menu options, that a consumer might (almost) mistake it for a fast-casual burger joint.

Laura Eggers -- who co-owns four McDonald's in Beaufort County with her husband, Michael -- said the area has outgrown the original facility.

"That building was built for a much smaller Lady's Island," Laura Eggers said.

The uptick in residential growth on the island has spurred interest for more commercial development, which includes the imminent groundbreaking of a Walmart Supercenter and a proposed Harris Teeter in the former Publix building.

The original 3,300-square-foot McDonald's was demolished on Monday and Tuesday. The new restaurant, which Laura Eggers said will likely open in mid- to late April, will be about 4,500 square feet.

Beyond size, the Lady's Island McDonald's reflects a new phase for the fast-food giant.

Upgrades at the restaurant will include a double-lane drive-thru, self-ordering kiosks, digital menu boards, touch-screen ordering systems and a table service option.

The Lady's Island restaurant will also have McDonald's new "Create Your Taste" menu, the fast-food chain's answer to staying competitive in a market where consumers are flocking toward fast-casual restaurants and away from fast-food chains.

The program is being tested in select markets. The Eggerses' Bluffton location in Buckwalter Place also has the build-your-burger menu.

On a corporate level, McDonald's is rebounding. After lagging fast-casual favorites such as Chipotle and Shake Shack for years, McDonald's shares have been on the rise, starting with the announcement in October that the fast-casual chain would serve its popular breakfast menu all day.

Launching its "premium" burger program probably didn't hurt, either. The "Create Your Taste" menu includes a variety of buns, protein, cheese and nontraditional toppings such as grilled pineapple, tortilla chips, guacamole -- even beetroot, jalapenos and aioli.

All this can be ordered via touchscreen technology -- the industry's way of making us more antisocial than ever before.

Aesthetics, too, are becoming more important for the McDonald's brand. The new Lady's Island McDonald's will have a minimalist, contemporary look and no PlayPlace (the famous Golden Arches will still be visible on most sides of the building, but the logo is significantly scaled down).

Laura Eggers said the new structure will "blend in better" with the environment.

"We won't have a red roof anymore," she said.

The building will adhere to standards for the Lady's Island Village Center Design District, a corridor outlined in the Beaufort Civic Master Plan that calls for streetscape improvements and pedestrian-friendly design.

"The exterior of the restaurant was designed specifically for this location, incorporating Lowcountry landscaping and existing live oak trees," Laura Eggers said.

It will be interesting to see how McDonald's continues to evolve its brand to fit the new dining-out consumer.

On a corporate level, its changes appear to be working ... or could it be because they aren't suffering from a national E. coli crisis like Chipotle?

Follow reporter Ashley Fahey on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Ashley.

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Fahey: Lady's Island McDonald's to reopen this spring."