Vacant West Broadway Burger King torn down

Crews showed up to 818 West Broadway Ave. early Friday to tear down a shuttered Burger King. Photo by David Pierini

By David Pierini, Editor

A wrecking crew on Friday tore down an old Burger King restaurant, a Whopper of an eyesore that sat boarded up on an overgrown lot on West Broadway Avenue since 2018.

The site is far from clean, but local leaders are hopeful removal of the building will attract a new developer and add some shine to a historic business corridor.

For the former Burger King to come down “is monumental because it creates space and opportunity for someone to build a functional structure that is going to add value to the community,” Minneapolis City Councilmember Pearll Warren said. “It’s monumental.”

The fast-food restaurant was one of nine Burger Kings in Minnesota that abruptly closed in 2018 after franchiser PC Foods went bankrupt.

The Burger King Corporation hung on to the site with hopes of finding a new franchisee but a city ordinance in 2019 banned construction of new drive-thru windows. Burger King successfully appealed a year later but never found a franchisee.

The owner of the land tore the shuttered building, pressured by a 2024 ordinance that levied annual fines against owners that leave properties sit idle.

When the ordinance was announced, city leaders held a news conference on July 21, 2024, at the former Burger King. The city gave owners two years to bring sites up to code, and the front loaders began pulling down vacant Burger King two years to the date of the announcement.

Kristel Porter, the executive director of the West Broadway Business and Area Coalition, said in 2024 vacant buildings have deterred people from visiting the business corridor. 

“Because there’s no foot traffic, they’re not bringing in the money that they need,” she said. “And we really need to activate these spaces so that we can start creating more of a destination spot.”