City Council approves plans for a Starbucks in Central City

After opening a Starbucks in Freret in early 2018, the coffeehouse chain is aiming for a new store in Central City.

Uptown Messenger reports that New Orleans City Council recently approved the Starbucks proposed near the intersection of Washington and South Claiborne avenues. In March, this Starbucks got unanimous approval from the City Planning Commission.

The coffee chain will open in a shopping mall located at 2841 South Claiborne Avenue. Contractors will demolish the strip mall’s Sports Action retail building and will create a new standalone building for the Starbucks.

The planned 2,668-square-foot coffeeshop will have a drive-thru, which is uncommon in New Orleans. Based on the site’s plans, commuters will be able to access the drive thru from both South Claiborne and Washington avenues.

This Starbucks is not the first to bring a drive-thru coffee shop to New Orleans. In December of 2016, a CC’s Coffee House opened on Canal Street near the University Medical Center. The owners of this coffeehouse advertised it as the first drive-thru coffee shop in New Orleans, and predicted that most of its transactions would occur at its drive-thru window. But that coffeehouse closed after six months of operation.

• Starbucks get final approval — and a “Woo hoo!” from the City Council — for South Claiborne location [Uptown Messenger]
• NOLA just got its first drive-thru CC’s [Curbed NOLA]
• CC’s Coffee on Canal Street closes 6 months after its opens [NOLA.com]