That's the strategy of McDonald's corporate, not the mom and pop franchises. Franchisees do not own the land the franchise is on. The McDonald's corporation buys the land and leases it to the franchisee.

"McDonald’s owns thousands of iconic pieces of real estate around the globe. From New York City’s Times Square to Moscow’s Red Square, McDonald’s has ventured around the world, buying up prime real estate. Franchisees pay McDonald’s a cut of their food sales, but a much larger portion of McDonald’s revenue comes from the rent it’s paid on its real estate. After all, rent in Times Square isn’t cheap, but a Big Mac is.

McDonald’s still takes a royalty on its franchisee’s sales but enjoys a much fatter revenue stream from the leases on nearly 33,000 franchisee-owned restaurants." - https://1851franchise.com/why-is-mcdonalds-considered-a-real...