It’s been a rumor since last year but we can finally tell you that Buc-ee’s is for sure, absolutely, 100% coming to Benton, Arkansas. The deal is done and the ink is dry.
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Buc-ee’s and the Buc-ee’s Beaver showed up as special guests during the coin toss at the 50th Anniversary Salt Bowl game on August 30th, 2024 to make the announcement. As you can imagine, the crowd went wild with cheers and talk of the rumors finally being put to rest. See video below of the announcement.
“The city of Benton is honored to have been selected as the first location for CSMS management travel center here in Arkansas. We are appreciative and expect the partnership to be very beneficial for everyone involved for years to come,” Mayor Farmer said Friday night after the announcement.
Buc-ee’s Travel Center in Texas – photo by Gina Jones Poole
The company that owns the chain of huge travel centers is CSMS Management LLC, of Pearland, TX. They agreed about a year ago, on July 27, 2023, during the Benton Advertising and Promotion Commission meeting to terms including that they had until August 21, 2024 to sign the deal with Benton. That happened last week.
Over the past year, Buc-ee’s has been researching land, and making plans with the City, but the deal wouldn’t be sealed until they were finished with all of the pre-construction testing. The company now has one year to begin construction, and three years to finish, according to the contract between Buc-ee’s and the City of Benton.
Pictured above is the first section of the tract of land in the City of Benton’s Purchase, and the “Commercial 30 Acres” indicated on the southern tip (map is rotated, North is to the right)
The City purchased about 400 acres of land in the Summer of 2023, located at the northeast corner of Interstate 30 and Highway 229 (Exit 114). The “travel center” – as it would be called in several City documents over the past 12 months – was looking to purchase about 29 acres of that land, right at the southern tip, so they could possibly, probably, allegedly, perhaps build one of those gigantic beaver-themed travel centers adjacent to the campground that Benton has in the works.
As A&P Commissioner Bill Eldridge read from the contract in July 2023, the travel center bid $77,586.21 per acre on 29 acres, or a gross of about $2.25 million before real estate fees. The economic impact on the area is estimated to be $1.2 million per year. Property tax revenue is project at $275,000 per year. It also says the company would expect approximately 5 million visitors per year to their travel center.
Watch the Buc-ee’s website for Benton, Arkansas to pop up on the locations list. Also watch there to apply for jobs: https://buc-ees.com/.