Residents of the North district have taken over a former McDonald’s – NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP
- In Marseille, a former McDonald’s in the northern districts has become a social place for the most disadvantaged.
- The promoters of this project are launching an appeal to buy back the walls and launch a social fast food restaurant.
- The buildings would first be sold to the city of Marseille, which would then sell them to the project leaders for around 600,000 euros.
It was before the “village square”, wedged between the bars of buildings and a busy road. In the northern districts of Marseille, since its liquidation in December 2019, the former McDonald’s in Saint-Barthélémy has turned into a social platform helping the most disadvantaged. Since the first confinement, no less than 100,000 people have already been able to receive food parcels within the four walls of the fast food giant, where advertising posters promoting the famous burgers still exist.
Walls that still belong to McDonald’s… for now. In order to transform this place into a social fast-food restaurant, the project leaders want nothing more or less to buy back the restaurant, to officially become its owners.
A corporate citizen real estate
“We want to create a real estate citizen company of 50,000 people,” explains Fathi Bouaroua. Each part costs 25 euros. That makes 1.250 million, which would make it possible to buy the place, rehabilitate the equipment and provide the future cooperative, and therefore the future restaurant, with working capital. “
McDonald’s would have said it was ready to sell the restaurant… but would refuse to do so directly to the project leaders, with whom the company was in conflict. Indeed, as a reminder, the birth of After M stems from a long social struggle of the employees of this McDonald’s. “We requested the city’s mediation,” Fathi Bouaroua pursues. We met the mayor of Marseille, who said he was ready to support the project and act as the intermediary. Concretely, McDonald’s would sell the restaurant to the city of Marseille, which would then sell it to the After Mr. volunteers.
About forty employees
“If we can quickly raise the eurometer, the city will hasten to offer McDonald’s to buy it, forecast Fathi Bouaroua. We think that within two months, if we can obtain half of our expectations, we will already be able to buy since the place is estimated between 600,000 and 700,000, or half of the amount we want to collect. “
And to add: “If we manage to become owner, we have already made a feasibility study, we would be able to independently manage 37 employees, with the objective of having 77 employees in the long term”, that is to say the number original used by this McDonald’s before it closed. The project leaders hope both to recreate a living space in the heart of the northern districts, accessible to as many people as possible, but also to give work to former employees of this McDonald’s, and other young people from the neighborhood who are struggling to find a job. .
“We hope to buy this place next year,” announces Fathi Bouaraoua. The subscription will be officially opened this Saturday, with the possibility of directly acquiring a share in the future real estate company. A website, launched on May 15, will also make it possible to buy shares online.