▫️ Anniversary event held at Lahore’s Etihad Town; company highlights its role in developing eight local construction and interiors suppliers; one contractor reports building more than 11 restaurants, while a historical rental proposal illustrates a sales-linked leasing model
لاہور کے اتحاد ٹاؤن میں 28 سال مکمل ہونے کی تقریب، 8 مقامی تعمیراتی سپلائرز کی ترقی میں کردار، ایک تعمیراتی کمپنی کے مطابق 11 سے زیادہ ریسٹورنٹس تعمیر کیے، کرایہ داری میں فروخت کے حساب سے ادائیگی کی مثال بھی سامنے آگئی
Lahore | ReNews PakistanMcDonald’s has completed 28 years of operations in Pakistan.
Lahore | ReNews Pakistan
McDonald’s has completed 28 years of operations in Pakistan. Since opening its first restaurant in Lahore in September 1998, the international fast-food chain has expanded to 72 restaurants across 19 cities. Alongside the growth of its food business, the company has contributed to commercial property and construction activity by establishing restaurants in shopping centres, commercial districts, housing developments and along major roads.
To mark its 28th anniversary, McDonald’s hosted an event honouring local business partners at its restaurant in Lahore’s Etihad Town. The restaurant is located in the housing development’s commercial area on Main Raiwind Road. Representatives from Packages Limited, Big Bird, Nurpur, Fresh N Freeze, Pronto Spaces, Saima Packaging and the Zaman Foundation attended the event. The company recognised their contribution to its expansion in Pakistan and the development of its local supply network.
From Lahore to 19 Cities
McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in Pakistan in Lahore in September 1998, followed a week later by its first outlet in Karachi. The company subsequently expanded into other cities. McDonald’s Corporation’s official records listed 70 restaurants in Pakistan at the end of December 2025. A report published to mark the company’s anniversary in September 2026 put the total at 72. According to the anniversary report, McDonald’s restaurants across Pakistan collectively serve more than 240,000 customers a day. The business is operated in Pakistan by local company SIZA Foods.
McDonald’s occupies a range of commercial locations across Pakistan. Its presence in Lahore’s Packages Mall and Emporium Mall, Islamabad’s Centaurus Mall, and commercial areas such as Gulberg, Johar Town and DHA illustrates the role of major restaurant brands within shopping centres and commercial districts. The chain also operates restaurants in the commercial areas of residential developments, including Lake City, Central Park Housing Society and Etihad Town in Lahore. These locations reflect the provision of space for dining, shopping and other commercial amenities alongside homes and residential plots in large housing developments.
The presence of an international brand can strengthen a development’s commercial identity and range of amenities. However, assessing its effect on surrounding property prices or rents requires separate data for the area concerned. A company profile published by Ittefaq Building Solutions provides one example of the construction work associated with McDonald’s expansion in Pakistan. According to the contractor, it has built more than 11 McDonald’s restaurants in Pakistan while working with SIZA Foods. The projects included building construction, electrical and mechanical systems, plumbing and interior finishing. The contractor also states that it completed several projects within specified 60-day periods. This suggests that the expansion of international restaurant chains can create business opportunities for local construction companies, engineers, contractors and interior specialists.
According to McDonald’s Pakistan’s official website, the company has helped develop 52 local suppliers across various sectors, including eight involved in construction and interiors. A separate published company report refers to 55 local vendors, comprising 29 food suppliers and 26 non-food suppliers. The non-food category includes businesses providing construction, building maintenance, kitchen equipment, signage and other services. These figures indicate that the company’s supply relationships extend beyond food to restaurant construction, refurbishment and maintenance.
An important aspect of McDonald’s business from a commercial property perspective is its leasing and franchise arrangements. Within its global business model, some agreements link rent to a specified percentage of restaurant sales. Certain agreements also provide for a minimum fixed rent. In commercial property, this is commonly described as percentage rent or turnover rent. A historical example of a similar proposal can also be found in Pakistan. According to a Dawn report published in December 2010, McDonald’s local operator offered rent of Rs1.3 million a month or 5 per cent of monthly sales for a Capital Development Authority site in Islamabad. The report illustrates a proposal to use sales-linked rent in Pakistan. For example, if a restaurant generates monthly sales of Rs50 million and its lease specifies rent at 5 per cent of sales, the monthly rent would be Rs2.5 million. This is an illustrative calculation only and does not represent the actual sales or rent of any McDonald’s restaurant.
Under such arrangements, a property owner may receive higher rent as the tenant’s business grows. Depending on the agreement, rental income may also be affected when sales decline. However, details of the leasing arrangements for all existing McDonald’s restaurants in Pakistan have not been made public. It is therefore not possible to establish how many operate on fixed rents, how many have sales-linked rental agreements, or how many occupy company-owned premises. Research published by Oxford Economics in February 2026 estimated that McDonald’s activities in Pakistan contributed approximately Rs22.6 billion to the country’s gross domestic product.
According to the research, the business and its associated economic activity supported approximately 13,900 jobs. Between July 2024 and June 2025, McDonald’s purchased approximately Rs15.1 billion in goods and services from suppliers based in Pakistan, accounting for 91 per cent of its total supplier expenditure. These figures describe the company’s wider economic impact. The Rs22.6 billion contribution should not be interpreted as direct investment in property or construction.
McDonald’s 28-year presence in Pakistan highlights the importance of suitable commercial locations, building construction, parking, road access, electricity, water and other services in the expansion of major restaurant brands. For shopping centre and housing developers, such brands represent potential commercial tenants. Their expansion can also generate opportunities for construction companies through new restaurant projects and the refurbishment of existing premises. Sales-linked rent may also be relevant to commercial property owners, as it connects rental income to the performance of the tenant’s business. However, comprehensive information on the total floor area occupied by McDonald’s restaurants in Pakistan, property ownership, rental payments and construction investment is not publicly available.
Without these details, it is not possible to calculate accurately how the chain’s expansion has affected commercial property prices or rents. McDonald’s development in Pakistan nevertheless illustrates the connections between international restaurant operations and commercial property, construction, building maintenance and the growth of commercial developments.
