Case Study // McDonald's · Forest Heights, MD

    From a 1971 relic to a flagship restaurant, on the exact grand-opening date.

    Fourteen-plus permit tracks, three utility disconnects, one immovable opening day. Commun-ET ran Prince George's County, WSSC, MDOT SHA, PEPCO, and Washington Gas in parallel, and absorbed a mid-review design change without losing queue position.

    Ground-up rebuildPrince George's CountyThree utility disconnectsFixed opening day
    QSR & Multi-Unit Retail
    Client: McDonald's USA
    14+
    Parallel workstreams
    <$2M
    Construction value
    3
    Utility disconnects
    See sector page
    The Challenge

    A demolition and rebuild with a grand-opening date already announced.

    The Forest Heights restaurant dated to 1971 and had to come down before the replacement could go up, on a site where water, electric, and gas service all had to be retired and re-established. Prince George's County building and site review, WSSC, MDOT SHA, PEPCO, and Washington Gas each ran on their own calendar, while the grand-opening date was already fixed.

    • Fourteen or more permit and approval tracks open at the same time
    • Three utility disconnects and reconnections sequenced around demolition
    • MDOT SHA access review on a state highway frontage
    • A design change arriving mid-review, after applications were already in queue
    The Approach

    Every agency on its own clock, one team ahead of all of them.

    Commun-ET held one program record across county review, state highway access, and all three utilities, and sequenced disconnects against the demolition and construction calendar rather than waiting for each approval in turn. AI does the pattern recognition. Our people do the judgment.

    01

    Parallel-tracked county and utility review

    Building, site, and utility applications opened together so no track waited on another's issuance.

    02

    Disconnects sequenced to demolition

    WSSC, PEPCO, and Washington Gas retirements were scheduled against the demolition window, then reconnections against the construction calendar.

    03

    Mid-review design change absorbed

    A design change arriving after submission was reconciled into the open applications without surrendering queue position.

    04

    Inspection readiness ahead of opening

    County, health, and utility inspections were sequenced weeks ahead of the announced grand-opening date.

    The Results

    Opened on the announced date.

    The restaurant opened on its announced grand-opening date, with the mid-review design change absorbed inside the existing applications and all three utility services re-established on the construction calendar.

    14+
    Workstreams carried in parallel
    Commun-ET project record for the Forest Heights rebuild
    3
    Utility services re-established
    WSSC, PEPCO, and Washington Gas, per the project coordination log
    On date
    Grand opening held

    "How hard you were working on this one and how well you do at making sure we get things handled ASAP! Thank you so very much for your support."

    Michele Miller
    Reinvestment Area Construction Manager, McDonald's USA, LLC
    Take it with you

    Forest Heights case study (PDF)

    The client-facing case study, with the full permitting and utility record.

    Download the PDF (3.8 MB PDF)

    Protect the opening date you already announced.

    If demolition, utilities, and county review all sit on your critical path, our team can carry them together instead of in sequence.

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