Fast food precinct set to go
Before council
AN ABANDONED restaurant and neighbouring homes will be bulldozed to make way for a new food precinct if developers have their vision for a busy intersection realised.
New plans to revitalise the site of the Marco Polo Chinese Restaurant have been submitted to council.
NEW plans are under way to replace a prominent eyesore with a food precinct aimed at serving the city’s south.
Council has received an application to turn the long-abandoned Marco Polo Chinese Restaurant site at the intersection of Ruthven and Alderley Sts into seven food outlets.
Artist’s impressions on the application show two drive-throughs, one for a Subway restaurant and one for a Coffee Club.
The plan has been submitted by Bruntnell Developments, whose directors are LJ Hooker Commercial accounts manager John O’Neil and Toowoomba Subway franchisee Mark Johnstone.
A previous application, lodged in 2009 to develop the site, had since lapsed.
Two abandoned houses beside the restaurant have also been acquired, with the lot to be demolished, should council approve the development.
Mr O’Neil said tenants were still being confirmed, but he was confident all the shops would be leased. “We have got some very interested,” Mr O’Neil said.
He said other potential tenants included a kebab shop and a noodle bar. “It is all subject to council and their view on the whole thing.”
He hoped to start construction as soon as the application was approved.
Police are still investigating fires at the two houses neighbouring the restaurant as part of their push to find the person, or people, behind a number of fires in abandoned buildings.