A new Chick-fil-A is set to open near Oakland University. The new restaurant will be located at 2111 North Squirrel Road, across from The Oakland Center and Meadow Brook Theatre, where the old Macaroni Grill Restaurant was located. 

Groundbreaking for the project started in the Fall of 2024. The City of Auburn Hills has confirmed that the new Chick-fil-A will open in Spring 2025, although an official date has not yet been announced. 

This new Chick-fil-A has been met with both support and controversy. 

Residents of Auburn Hills and Rochester have voiced concerns about traffic congestion in the area with the highly popular chain, especially with Oakland University’s campus traffic adding to the situation. 

Chick-fil-A was required to provide a traffic analysis to confirm that the restaurant would not cause traffic congestion.

“Because Chick-fil-A typically generates a higher customer demand than its competitors, the City required the developer and Chick-fil-A, Inc. to provide a Traffic Study, Drive-Through Lane Queuing Analysis, and Traffic and Circulation Narrative to determine whether 1) the site could handle the vehicular demand associated with the proposed facility, and 2) the proposed facility would not negatively impact the roadways and surrounding properties… the City’s Administrative Site Plan Review team finds the project will not cause transportation, safety, or congestion problems, ” according to The City of Auburn Hills,

“The findings show that there is not a significant impact on the overall road network… This site is larger than other Chick-fil-A sites and would be maximized so the traffic would be drawn away from Squirrel to the back of the property. The building is orientated such that the drive-through would wrap around and utilize as much of the property as possible.

“Mr. Lurk stated that the stacking issues experienced at the M-59/Hall Road Chick-fil-A store occur because the natural traffic patterns on Hall Road and Schoenherr Road are much higher than those on N. Squirrel Road. In addition, the Hall Road Chick-fil-A site is significantly smaller than the proposed Auburn Hills location, with fewer stacking spaces,” The City of Auburn Hills explained at a council meeting.

From the span of 2012 to 2020, there was a Chick-fil-A in the Oakland Center, offering on-campus dining for students. In 2020, the Chick-fil-A in Oakland Center shut down. 

Although there have been multiple reasons linked to the restaurant closing at the Oakland Center, including low demand, one of the other reasons has been linked to the CEO’s past statements regarding the LGBTQ+ community.

The Oakland Post talked with Blake Ilhan, coordinator for the Gender and Sexuality Center for Oakland University. Ilan was not able to comment on the new Chick-fil-A opening, however, Ilan provided insight on the now-closed Chick-fil-A in the Oakland Center. 

“Prior to 2020, for at least 10 years, there had been advocacy by student leaders and student organizations, primarily in the org[anization] that is now called SAGE, but was called GSA until recently, to try to remove the Chick-fil-A from campus at the time.”

“Especially in the first half of that [2010s], the donations from Chick-fil-A were significantly worse than they are now, and so there was millions of dollars going to very violently anti-LGBT organizations, and people around it was very much in the news. People around the country were protesting Chick-fil-A for that reason.

“Contracts were expiring with Chartwells and Chick-fil-A and that for a variety of reasons, one of them being wanting to make sure that the vendors we work with align with OU’s statement of values, that the decision was made not to renew that contract,” Ilhan said. 

The Oakland Post asked how important these anti-LGBTQ statements were in the decision to shut down Chick-fil-A. 

“My understanding that it was one of many [factors]. It wasn’t completely not a thought, but that it was not [the] only factor in that decision,” Ilhan said.

The Oakland Post also asked how important student activism efforts were in the decision to close down the restaurant. 

“It is not clear to me at all how important it was in 2020. The student activism definitely had an impact on many people’s decisions as to whether or not they wanted to support Chick-fil-A, and I think really helped make help people make educated decisions about that. But no, I have no clue if that impacted their bottom line in a significant way,” Ilhan said.

The Oakland Post asked Glenn McIntosh, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs & Chief Diversity Officer at Oakland University, for a comment. Below is the statement. 

“I wanted to provide some background and comments for the story regarding the new Chick-fil-A opening across the street from OU.

Chick-fil-A first opened a Michigan location at Oakland University in 2012 and was a tenant in our food court until the fall of 2020. During the pandemic, with significantly lower demand for on-campus dining, we worked with Chartwells, our campus food service provider, to explore new dining options for students returning post-pandemic.

I anticipate that our dining options on campus will continue to evolve, and I fully support the success of local eateries near OU, including the recent addition of O’Grizzly’s Bar and Bistro and the upcoming Chick-fil-A. Having a variety of food options—both on and off campus—enhances the experience for our students, faculty, and staff.”

Chick-fil-A has not responded to The Oakland Post’s request for comment.