From the Ground Up: Taco Bell

Owner/developer: K-MAC Holdings Corp. (Fort Smith, Arkansas)
General contractor: TMG Construction Management Inc. (Noblesville, Indiana)
Architect: Drawing Department LLC (Cincinnati)
Engineers: Advantage Group Engineering Inc. (Cincinnati), structural; Weihe Engineers Inc. (Indianapolis), civil; and Marque Engineering (Cincinnati), mechanical, electrical and plumbing
Size: 2,300 square feet
Estimated cost: $700,000, per city permit
Lender: WND
Estimated completion: February
Project description: Fort Smith, Arkansas-based K-MAC Holdings is adding to its southwest Missouri properties with a second Taco Bell store in Ozark. The franchisee operates over 300 Taco Bell locations, along with several Golden Coral stores, said Brian Hubbard, an operations director for K-MAC. The Ozark store is designed with Taco Bell’s new exterior look and will have two drive-thru lanes, he said, the second designated for mobile orders and delivery service drivers. Hubbard said the fast-food chain is increasing digital components in its operations, pointing to new point-of-sale systems and kitchen technologies. On the consumer-facing side, he said the Ozark store would have a half-dozen ordering kiosks and “bellhops” taking drive-thru orders with tablets. “It’s one of the very first in the entire country,” Hubbard said, noting Taco Bell is beginning to roll out the new concepts and K-MAC opened its first of the kind in Ponca, Oklahoma. K-MAC has 11 Taco Bell stores in Springfield, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.