Arby's vying for northside Sioux City property McDonald's wants to buy

SIOUX CITY — A local Arby's franchisee is interested in building a restaurant in Floyd Valley Crossing on land McDonald's wants to purchase from the city. 

AES Restaurant Group, LLC, which owns roughly 175 Arby's franchises throughout the Midwest, including two existing locations in Sioux City, submitted a proposal after the city announced its intent to accept McDonald's proposal over that of a Domino's franchisee.

The City Council will be asked Monday to approve a resolution accepting McDonald's proposal to purchase the property, 3100 Floyd Blvd., from the city. 

"Preliminary feedback from Councilmembers regarding these two proposals indicates a desire to continue with the sale of this property to McDonald’s USA, LLC," city documents stated. 

Since the property is located in an urban renewal area, the city was required to follow the urban renewal law and give a 30-day notice of its intent to sell it to McDonald's. During that period, the Arby's franchisee made an offer of $560,000 for the 1.09-acre parcel of land, which is above McDonald's offer of $500,000. The city's asking price for the property is $310,096. 

AES wants to spend an estimated $1.8 million on real estate and improvements, while McDonald's estimates spending $4.9 million in capital expenditures for the project.

McDonald's plans to hire an estimated 72 full- and part-time employees, while AES proposes hiring an estimated 30 full- and part-time employees.

A restaurant in Floyd Valley Crossing would be McDonald's seventh Sioux City location and Arby's third. 

On Feb. 26, before the council voted to move McDonald's proposal forward, Councilman Alex Watters said a McDonald's in Floyd Valley Crossing would have a "economic impact" in that area. It would be McDonald's second location on the city's north side. The fast-food chain also has a restaurant on Hamilton Boulevard. A McDonald's inside the Floyd Boulevard Walmart permanently closed amid the pandemic.

"I'm always going to wish and hope for diverse options in our community. So I would have loved to have seen something that we maybe don't have in this community," Watters said. "I think this is a significant investment with the developer. I really appreciate the aggressive nature of their proposal; and I believe in that product and its ability to have an economic impact in that area."

During the meeting, Business Development Coordinator Chris Myres told the council city staff believes a McDonald's will drive more traffic to Northern Valley Crossing and help sell the other two remaining lots at the 29-acre commercial site.

Northern Valley Crossing, which is nearly built out, is also home to an ALDI grocery store, Pizza Ranch, the Shoppes at Northern Valley, Dollar Tree and Telco Triad. Aftershock Ventures plans to build a five-unit retail center on the commercial site, with the anchor tenant being a Starbucks coffee shop.