City of West St. Paul and Burger King reach settlement;
site to reopen as Popeyes restaurant

City of West St. Paul and Burger King reach settlement; site to reopen as Popeyes restaurant
By Jake Spitzack | Staff Writer | July 2025

After years of haggling over the future of the former Burger King site in West St. Paul, an agreement has been reached that settles a lawsuit and paves the way for a new fast-food restaurant on the property.

The situation with Burger King Company LLC began in 2013 when the city used eminent domain to acquire some of the company’s property at 1650 Robert St. S. for easement to support the Robert Street Reconstruction Project. The city paid Burger King $32,500 to acquire a title and agreed to pay $192,500 for the land plus $10,000 in attorney fees, based on a contingency agreement that included an access easement from Hobby Lobby and Walmart, neighboring properties. However, Hobby Lobby refused the easement and therefore the city didn’t pay for the land or attorney fees.

The issue got stickier in 2018 when Burger King abruptly closed the West St. Paul location along with several other restaurants in the state. The building was demolished in 2021 and at that time plans were in the works to create a new Burger King there. However, those plans never materialized and the site was left vacant and unattended, prompting the city to file civil action last year to force the company to clean it up.

Now the two entities have reached a settlement agreement. The City will pay Burger King $202,500 in two equal installments for the property used for easement and legal fees — one payment before and one after site remediation. Burger King is expected to complete comprehensive cleanup of the long-vacant site within six months and submit a site plan for its sister company Popeyes Louisiana Chicken by September. Work includes removing all concrete material and plant growth, filling the site to grade with new soil and reseeding, and restoring erosion control devices. The agreement drops all claims that Burger King filed against the city regarding the 2013 lawsuit.

In related news, the City of St. Paul issued a demolition order this spring of the Burger King building at 455 Robert St. S. on the West Side, following the owner’s failure to meet remediation steps outlined in a city notice issued in October 2024. The building reportedly needed a lot of maintenance, including plumbing repairs. City documents say a developer
was taking steps to purchase the property but failed to complete required steps in the given timeframe. Thus, the city proceeded with demolition.

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