Buc-ee’s estimates first Va. location to open in June

Leave it to beaver — the behatted mascot of mega-travel center chain Buc-ee’s, that is.

Texas-based Buc-ee’s projects it will open its first travel center in Virginia — its 74,000-square-foot Rockingham County location — on June 30, although the opening date is not set in stone, Buc-ee’s Media Coordinator Crissy Gonzales noted in an email this week.

Located at the intersection of I-81 and Friedens Church Road, the Mount Crawford center will have 120 fueling positions. The chain expects to create 200 jobs with the gas station and convenience store.

Buc-ee’s broke ground on the Rockingham County location on Jan. 30, 2024, after buying 21.3 acres for $6.6 million in September 2023. The county revealed plans for the location in July 2023 by posting on its Facebook page that the company had applied for a special-use permit for review and approval of a sign plan.

“Construction is well underway, and we are excited to bring award-winning clean restrooms, freshly prepared Texas barbeque and cheap gas in 2025,” Buc-ee’s General Counsel Jeff Nadalo said in a statement Thursday. He added that Buc-ee’s is involved in the permitting process in Stafford County. Meanwhile, the opening of Buc-ee’s New Kent County location, announced in 2023, has been postponed to 2027.

In June 2023, Buc-ee’s paid $6.5 million for 27.68 acres in New Kent County east of Richmond, at Exit 211 off Interstate 64. The county’s economic development department posted to its Facebook page in March 2023 that the chain filed for a conditional use permit for signage.

Although Buc-ee’s initially planned to open the New Kent location by 2025, according to a 2023 S.L. Nusbaum Realty news release, its expected opening has been pushed to 2027 to coordinate with road construction projects. Those projects include the I-64 widening project underway in the county and a diverging diamond interchange at the Exit 211 interchange, which likely won’t be completed until 2030, according to the Tidewater Review.

The county has requested $44 million in state funding through the Smart Scale program to help build the diverging diamond interchange at Exit 211.

In February 2024, Buc-ee’s submitted a conditional use permit application to Stafford County for a 74,000-square-foot travel center on about 36 acres by Exit 140 off Interstate 95. The proposed center would include 120 fueling stations and create an estimated 200 jobs.

According to county property records, the land included in the Stafford County CUP application is owned by Rocky Ridge Joint Venture, which shares an address with Van Metre Cos.

The application is currently in the first round of county staff review, according to a Stafford County application graphic dated July 8, 2024. The process from submission to going before the board of supervisors could take up to nine months.

Some Stafford residents have voiced opposition to the proposed Buc-ee’s center, with more than 20 people speaking against it at a county Board of Supervisors meeting in May 2024, although the travel center was not on the agenda, according to Fredericksburg Free Press‘ reporting. Opponents of the Stafford location have also created a petition on Change.org, which had 1,598 signatures as of Thursday. A Buc-ee’s representative did not provide a statement directly responding to a question about the petition.

Buc-ee’s plans to have four total Virginia locations, according a June 2023 news release from S.L. Nusbaum Realty.

Founded in 1982, Buc-ee’s has 34 stores in Texas and 14 centers in other states.