McDonald’s Corp. is well under way on construction of a controversial new drive-thru-only restaurant on the southwest corner of Hamilton Street and Augusta Avenue, near Gonzaga University’s campus, in Spokane.  

The restaurant is expected to open in July, says Jeff Ottmar, an agent with Cornerstone Property Advisors, who represented McDonald’s in the purchase of the properties.

“It will have a double drive-through with two lanes so that two different people can order at intercoms at the same time,” Ottmar says.

The city of Spokane lists the value of the project as $825,000, which covers construction of the building shell but doesn’t include the cost of  equipment, furnishings, or other miscellaneous costs. 

After a brief delay, Associated Construction Inc., of Spokane, began building the 3,500-square-foot building in mid-March. 

McDonald’s postponed the project for a week after a Logan neighborhood group opposed the new restaurant’s design and requested that McDonald’s consider a more pedestrian-friendly approach. 

The neighborhood group wanted the design to fit in with its eight-year vision of a pedestrian-central main street theme. Logan planning leader Karen Byrd says McDonald’s ultimately refused to make any changes to its plans. 

“We had an hour meeting with McDonald’s, and they refused to consider changing the design. They said it can’t be done,” Byrd says. 

Byrd plans to bring the information back to the neighborhood group for input on its next steps.

McDonald’s had bought two adjacent lots, totaling about 21,000 square feet, where a home and an oil-change business had been located, and had both structures demolished.McDonald’s paid $170,000 for the residential property at 818 E. Augusta and $365,000 for the business property at 826 E. Augusta.

Steve Peterson, of Coldwell Banker Tomlinson North, represented the sellers. 

Associated Construction Inc., of Spokane, began building the drive-through-only restaurant in mid-March.