Warren’s long-vacant Crab Shack site is trading in seafood for caffeine. The city’s Planning Commission has signed off on a plan to turn the empty restaurant at 5702 Twelve Mile Road into a drive-thru-only 7 Brew coffee stand, giving early-morning commuters one more reason to swing down Twelve Mile.
The concept is intentionally compact and no-frills: no indoor seating, no public restrooms, and a tight footprint focused almost entirely on drinks. Commissioners said the layout is designed to keep cars circulating on the property while restoring a healthy chunk of green space to the lot.
What the commission signed off on
According to the City of Warren’s unapproved planning minutes, the project calls for demolishing the old Crab Shack building and replacing it with two prefabricated structures: a main building of about 500 square feet where staff will work, and a roughly 280 square foot cooler to store ingredients. Plans also show a bit more than 6,500 square feet of new landscaping across the site, an upgrade from the current expanse of pavement and a shuttered restaurant.
The drive-thru layout features two ordering lanes plus a bypass lane, with enough on-site stacking space for around 37 vehicles so traffic does not spill back onto Twelve Mile Road. Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the site plan at their June 15 meeting, according to the City of Warren.
How the kiosk will operate
During the hearing, Erin McMachen of Stonefield Engineering walked commissioners through how the coffee stand will function day to day. The operation will be strictly drive-thru, with no walk-up window. Staffers will be stationed outside to take orders directly from drivers instead of relying on a traditional menu board or speaker system…