If you’ve ever been to Ocean City, there’s a good chance you’ve seen golden arches right when you pull into town. But word that a landmark McDonald’s is about to close down is making waves in the popular shore destination. “They gave us not even a week’s notice to let us know that we were all losing our jobs,” said McDonald’s manager Linda Romain. For Romain, it came as a supersized shock. The manager said she and at least 30 others who work at the popular McDonald’s at 9th Street and West Avenue were told on Tuesday that the restaurant would close on Sunday. “It’s the holiday season, no one’s gonna be hiring. You got Christmas that’s coming up. You got New Year’s coming up. So it’s gonna be really hard,” said Romain. The McDonald’s has been a fast-food fixture for decades. Hundreds of thousands of visitors coming into town over the Route 52 causeway see those golden arches every summer. “It’s a landmark for sure. Ninth Street’s our main entrance to Ocean City,” said Michele Gillian of Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce. The restaurant is locally owned and operated, but McDonald’s real estate company owns the property. “This was blindsided,” said Romain. The impending closure is raising questions about what’s ahead for this prime piece of real estate. “A lot of people are thinking the same thing, this is already sold. This has been worked on, and it’s sold,” said Douglas Grisbaum of Grisbaum Group-long and Foster Real Estate. Pat Powers, local McDonald’s Owner/Operator shared a statement: “After 47 years of serving the Ocean City community, the 900 W Ave. restaurant is closing. I’m deeply thankful to our loyal customers and to our hardworking crew members who show up every day with dedication to serve our community. All crew members are being offered new job opportunities at other McDonald’s restaurants in the area.” “As long as it stays commercial, we want to make sure that in Ocean City that we keep businesses going,” said Gillian. The property last changed hands in 2014. The sales price was just over $2 million, but real estate values at the shore have skyrocketed since then. “I would say it’s at least tripled in value, in my opinion,” said Grisbaum. “With all the bills adding up, it’s expensive, and not being able to have income coming in like we used to, it’s going to be very, very hard,” Romain added. McDonald’s shared that crew members at the 9 West Avenue location are being offered continued employment through Jan. 5. A majority of crew members have accepted new roles at other nearby McDonald’s restaurants. New Jersey is home to about 250 McDonald’s restaurants and more than 45 owners and operators. The company said that 100 percent of McDonald’s restaurants in New Jersey are locally owned and operated.  ...read more read less