Not just McDonald's, but also Popeyes has tried, and failed, to get a foothold near Barclays Center in Pintchik properties

The area around the Barclays Center has definitely become more weighted to food and beverage places--restaurants, bars, food emporia--since the arena started rising.

And it does now have some national and local chains: on Flatbush Avenue, Shake Shack and Chick-Fil-A, renting from the major landlord, the Pintchik family, who have aimed--at least in properties not quite as close to the arena, to be more local and eclectic.

Recently, Bisnow reported, in Brooklyn's Retail Market Is Eyeing A Quick, More Inclusive Recovery, that the Pintchiks have turned down even higher-profile, and more commercial, tenants:

The focus on the careful selection of retailers and brands is on the mind of Michael Pintchik, who owns around 65 mixed-use properties, mainly around the Barclays Center area.... 

“Many of them are contiguous, so we sort of have the unique ability to guide the look and feel of our little neighborhood,” he said.

..."We've had both Popeyes and McDonald's after us left and right, looking to pick one of our spaces, and we would sure love the McDonald's credit,” he said. “But it won't inure to the benefit of what we're trying to build in our little community here.”

In 2017, the Commercial Observer reported that they'd rejected Hooters and McDonald's, so Popeyes is a new, not surprising name.

The new article notes that the Pintchiks--who I'd note as longtime owners do not need to chase the highest dollar or pay off an expensive mortgage--see that some of their tenants won't last.

“We are trying really hard to sort of nurse them through this tough time," Michael Pintchik told Bisnow. But I can’t say there isn’t a time where I will have to say, ‘It’s now or never.'”