[media-credit name=’SUNDEEP MALLADI/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]After a long history of serving the University of Wisconsin campus, the McDonald's located at 441 N. Lake St. is scheduled to close Dec. 23 this year.

The property owner recently sold the land to an undisclosed buyer, whose name has yet to be released by the McDonald's office, according to McDonald's Area Supervisor Debbie Eckerty.

Eckerty said the location's closing has nothing to do with the property value of the site. The restaurant needs to be remodeled, she said, and the current location does not provide the space or the layout for successful changes. Eckerty also said if they did try to remodel the restaurant, it would not make enough money to cover the costs in a "reasonably short-term amount of time."

"I do believe [the Lake Street location] had the highest customer count downtown," Eckerty said. "But we can't remodel what we need to and make the money back."

According to the McDonald's website, the Lake Street location is one of the only restaurants in the city without a drive-thru. And Eckerty said the set-up of the restaurant is one of the problems with the location that cannot be fixed.

Yet in terms of business, the location usually does very well, she said, adding the problem is that the customer flow is "totally dependent on students."

"When [students] are gone, there's no business," Eckerty said.

The closest McDonald's to campus besides the Lake Street location is on Regent Street, but Eckerty said not all students would be willing to walk that far. She added that all employees from the Lake Street location will be relocated throughout the city, many of them to the Regent Street location. Eckerty said no plans for a new downtown location have been made.

City Council President Austin King, whose district includes the Lake Street McDonald's, said he was unaware the restaurant would be closing, but added it will not be a loss to the city.

"I haven't heard about McDonald's closing yet," King said in a text message responding to a phone call seeking comment. "But I won't shed any tears if it's true."

But Eckerty said though McDonald's is a fast-food chain, the Lake Street location has a fair amount of history. When it opened, she said, the location was one of the first sit-down restaurants in the State Street area. And Eckerty added that the initial reaction from employees and some customers has been disappointment.

"There's a lot of sadness," Eckerty said. "The location has a lot of history."

University of Wisconsin sophomore Charlie Burns, who frequented McDonald's often as a freshman, said the Lake Street McDonald's is a highly popular location among students. McDonald's was a common meeting place for friends, he added, and the Regent Street location is not a suitable replacement for most students.

"[The closing] is upsetting because that McDonald's used to be my pre-football game meeting place … to get breakfast," Burns said. "People in the area will go to the Regent Street location, but it's just too far."