Plans have been lodged for the development of a drive-thru restaurant beside Starbucks in Portadown… making it the elevnth drive-thru in the locality, if approved.
The vacant area of grassland to be built upon lays directly adjacent to the world-renowned coffee house and a boundary with Portadown Rugby Club, just off the Northway.
The plans have been put forward by Turkington Properties for the consideration of Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council’s planning department.
Outline permission for a total of three café/restaurant units was approved for the site back in 2020.
However, according to a supporting statement prepared by TSA Planning, this fresh application now seeks the approval of one drive-thru unit in place of the three previously approved units.
Currently the areas of Portadown, Lurgan and Craigavon have a total of three McDonald’s restaurants between them.
Portadown town also boasts a Tim Hortons and KFC, Craigavon has a Burger King, Greggs, its own Starbucks and Lurgan recently added to its offering with a Waka drive-thru.
It begs the question… what could possibly fill the new space?
The proposed new drive-thru has a gross estimated area of 313sqm, with gross internal area of c.278.7sqm within a single storey building and would be a similar height to the
Starbucks drive-thru.
The internal configuration consists of internal seating area, serving counter, staff area/ back of house, and male, female and disabled toilets. There is also a covered bin area inset into the building.
Externally, the building would be completed to a similar specification to the existing Starbucks premises.
The proposal includes a drive-thru area, and adds a total of 62 new parking spaces to the site layout, which currently has a total of 37 spaces.
The Parking Standards also require a 15-car queue length for drive thru facilities. This has been provided and is shown on the layout plan.
The application will be advertised in due course.
