Is a new McDonald’s coming to Brandon FL? Plans have surfaced pointing to a busy intersection in town, though nothing is confirmed just yet.
If you drive through the Lithia Pinecrest Road and East Lumsden Road area regularly, you already know how packed that corridor gets. It’s a major connector for people bouncing between Brandon, Valrico, Bloomingdale, and the neighborhoods around them. Soon, that daily drive might come with a new drive-thru option.
What the Site Plans Show About a New McDonald’s Coming to Brandon FL
Public site plan documents submitted to Hillsborough County confirm a proposed McDonald’s restaurant with a drive-thru is in the works. County records show a “Straight to Construction” application for McDonald’s Store #92749 was certified as a complete submittal on July 2, 2026, signed by the project’s engineer at Bohler. The site plan documents list McDonald’s USA LLC as the owner.
The proposed address is 947 Lithia Pinecrest Road, right near that heavily traveled intersection with East Lumsden Road. It’s surrounded by established neighborhoods, retail centers, and schools, so this isn’t some quiet back lot. It’s smack in the middle of daily Brandon traffic.
The property itself is zoned Planned Development, with a future land use designation of Residential-6, and the plans confirm fast food restaurant use is permitted under that zoning. That detail matters because it means the project doesn’t need a separate rezoning fight before it can move forward, just standard site plan review, which is a big part of why so many people are asking whether a new McDonald’s is coming to Brandon FL right now.
If you’re curious what else is happening nearby, check out our full Brandon, Florida guide for more on the area.
Where This Brandon McDonald’s Would Sit
Here’s what the filing spells out:
The site itself covers 46,679 square feet, or about 1.072 acres. The proposed building comes in at 3,859 square feet, with indoor seating for 32 to 36 people. That’s a solid-sized location, not a tiny walk-up spot. Plans also note the building would be a one-story masonry structure, and interestingly, it would not be protected by an automatic fire sprinkler system, something the fire safety notes in the plan set specifically call out.
One interesting wrinkle in the zoning records: county code calls for 39 parking spaces for a restaurant this size, but the submitted plan shows only 25 spaces total. The plan appears to include a parking variance request, something worth watching as the review process continues.
The civil plans also include the full backend of what makes a drive-thru work: vehicle turning plans, utility layouts, grading, drainage, and circulation routes mapped out for both drive-thru traffic and delivery vehicles.
The Traffic Question Everyone’s Asking
Anytime a new drive-thru pops up on a busy road, people immediately think about backups spilling onto the street. The plans actually address this head-on with a section called “Commitment to Minimizing Drive-Through Impacts.”
That note states the site has been engineered so vehicle queues won’t extend onto Lithia Pinecrest Road or block driveways for nearby businesses.
So, Is a New McDonald’s Coming to Brandon FL?
A submitted site plan is a real step, but it’s not a done deal. BAB has not yet confirmed final permit approval, construction start, or an opening timeline.
What we do know is the complete submittal packet from early July 2026 shows this project is actively moving through county review. Projects like this often go through several rounds of revisions, utility coordination, and design tweaks, including resolving that potential parking variance, before anyone sees construction equipment on site.
So to circle back to the original question, is a new McDonald’s coming to Brandon FL? Right now, all signs point to yes, but the timeline is still very much up in the air. We’ll keep tracking this one for permit updates, approvals, and anything official from McDonald’s. If you drive this stretch of Brandon regularly, this is a corner worth watching. And if you spot activity at the site before we do, let us know, we’d love to hear about it.
Want more updates like this sent right to your inbox? Sign up for the BAB Brief.
The BAB Brief is your free local guide to Brandon, Valrico, FishHawk, Lithia, and Riverview. What’s opening and what’s happening in Brandon and Beyond.
Every issue includes:
🚧 BAB Records Watch: Sneak peeks at new county permit filings
🍽️ Local guides: The best places to eat, things to do, and what’s worth your time 🎉 Grand openings & new businesses: Know about it before your neighbors do
🗓️ Community events: Trivia nights, markets, and weekend plans worth putting on your calendar
It’s free. It’s local. And it’s the easiest way to stay in the loop.
Photo Source: HillsGovHub
