7-Eleven left out of Albemarle Place

If you were afraid of losing the 7-Eleven on the corner of Hydraulic Road and Route 29N to the massive development known as Albemarle Place, rejoice (for a while at least): Even though the “New Urbanist” development—with its mixed-use zoning for retail and residential—will surround the property, developer Landonomics and 7-Eleven property owners cannot reach an agreement. But it’s not for lack of effort—they’ve been trying for six years.
“They have a very complicated ownership structure, which proved to be too complicated,” says Steve Lucas, Landonomics senior vice president.
The negotiations failed despite the County’s rezoning stipulation that the developer work with the property owner to obtain right of way. The County wants to expand Hydraulic to fit two turn lanes onto 29N.
Those highway improvements will put a limit on Slurpee-lovers’ period of rejoicing. That’s because, while franchise owner Bill Simmons still has almost 17 years remaining on 7-Eleven’s lease, the lane expansion is in the County’s immediate transportation improvement plan.
Originally, there had been discussion of including an upgraded 7-Eleven in Albemarle Place, but those talks fell through. “The Neighborhood Model didn’t allow us to create a very convenient location for 7-Eleven, but we made every effort to do that,” says Master Planner Frank Cox.
Other stalling factors might have included objections from Whole Foods, the only tenant who has signed a lease to date. The crunchy grocer’s regional office did not return calls by press time.
The issue became more acrimonious recently when, for construction reasons, Landonomics closed the neighboring parking lot that 7-Eleven customers had become accustomed to using.
“We’re not some big guy coming to shove the little guy out,” says Lucas. “The control of their destiny is in the County’s hands—not ours.” Meanwhile, the County says the issue is a matter of negotiation between the property owner and the developer.—Will Goldsmith