The Buc-ee’s proposed for Stafford County is another step closer to coming to fruition, but so is a project that was pitched earlier this year as an alternative to the gas station and convenience store.
A Norfolk-based real-estate company announced recently that Buc-ee’s has bought the more-than-35-acre site in central Stafford that would house the travel center’s third Virginia location. And Wednesday, the man behind a plan to build a sports destination said his group will soon have its own news about a land purchase elsewhere.
Buc-ee’s, which is headquartered in Texas, is famous around the country for its large gas station/convenience store operations, with fans scarfing its brisket and loyally wearing clothes emblazoned with its beaver mascot.
But in Stafford, where a 74,000-square-foot store is planned with 120 fuel pumps, many of its would-be neighbors spoke out against the business, which is expected to create roughly 200 jobs and generate nearly $1.9 million in annual general fund revenue for the county.
Nonetheless, the Stafford Board of Supervisors voted 5-2 on May 19 to approve the project, and S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. announced last week that it helped Buc-ee’s acquire the land at the northwest quadrant of Interstate 95 and Courthouse Road at Exit 140. The property sold for $14.8 million.
The formal announcement, however, noted that there’s no timetable for groundbreaking or opening.
“This transaction represents another successful collaboration with Buc-ee’s and underscores the strength of well-positioned land along major transportation corridors,” Nathan Shor, senior vice president and partner at S.L. Nusbaum said in the announcement. “We are proud to play a role in supporting Buc-ee’s continued growth in the region.”
Founded in 1982, Buc-ee’s has 54 locations across the nation. Its first Virginia location, in Mount Crawford, is open and a third is planned for New Kent County.
Before the Stafford Buc-ee’s was approved, though, another project emerged, pitched as one that would be more suitable for the location. The Colosseum Sports Resort would feature indoor and outdoor sports venues, retail businesses, restaurants and a hotel.
Some Stafford residents, especially those in the Embrey Mill and Austin Ridge subdivisions, began supporting the project publicly while two county supervisors cautioned against investing in it.
The supervisors’ approval of Buc-ee’s didn’t stop the Colosseum group’s plans, though no path forward was immediately announced.
“We didn’t want to go against the Board of Supervisors,” Farshid Hakimyar, CEO and president of the group, said Wednesday.
He said the Colosseum has inked multiple partnerships in the sports world, and he pointed to announcements on social media, which include Belhasa Sports & No Limits Sports, a sports advisory and capital solutions firm.
Hakimyar said his group has been looking at land in Stafford and in Spotsylvania County and will announce an acquisition soon.
