Shelli Poole of MySaline.com has the news that Buc-ee’s, the fan-favorite Texas-based gas station chain known for its massive travel centers and buck-toothed beaver mascot, will likely be setting up shop in Benton in the near future.
Benton’s advertising and promotion commission met this afternoon to discuss a single agenda item, Poole reported: A bid to purchase a certain plot of land adjacent to I-30, near exit 114. The city had itself acquired this land only recently as part of a purchase of 100 acres from Jim Thomas, a local resident. (Poole has video of today’s meeting on her MySaline.com post.)
A&P Commissioner Bill Eldridge told the commission that Thomas informed the city — after the sale was complete — that there was “a group interested in purchasing a small corner on the front of the property.” Thomas said he’d turned down the unnamed “group” because he’d already agreed to sell to the city, Eldridge said, calling him “a man of honor.”
Poole writes:
According to A&P Commissioner Bill Eldridge, in the process of the deal, Mr. Thomas confided that a certain entity was interested in purchasing the front corner of the property – about 29 acres. The City put it out to a bid process and one bid was returned.
Eldridge read a summary of the bid aloud at the meeting. I’m not saying it’s a Buc-ee’s, but Eldridge said it was from a travel center that bid $77,586.21 per acre on 29 acres, or a gross of $2.25 million before real estate fees. The company name is CSMS Management LLC, of Pearland, TX. I’m not saying it’s a Buc-ee’s, but I googled it and Buc-ee’s headquarters is in Pearland, TX.
CSMS Management LLC is the name of the corporation used to enter a cooperative agreement with the city of Ruston, Louisiana to build a Buc-ee’s, according to the Shreveport Times and other local new sources. And a search of Texas corporate records shows that CSMS Management’s leadership includes Arch “Beaver” Aplin, III, president of Buc-ee’s stores.
The A&P Commission said the company has said the location will employe 250 workers at $16-18 an hour, plus benefits. It’s expected to draw 5 million visitors over the course of a year. Under the terms of the bid, construction would have to start within one year and be completed within three.
The Buc-ee’s chain, which started in 1982, has been on an expansion spree in recent years. It now operates in 58 locations, according to the Buc-ee’s website, mostly in the South.