Buc-ee’s pushes its Mebane NC retailer opening to late 2027

MEBANE

Fans eagerly awaiting hot brisket and Beaver-themed shopping at North Carolina’s first Buc-ee’s travel center will have to wait a little longer.

The Texas-based company had planned to open the Buc-ee’s in May 2027 off Interstates 40/85 in Alamance County. That date has now been pushed back to the end of 2027, a Buc-ee’s spokesperson said in an email.

Also, Stan Beard, Buc-ee’s real estate and development director, told attendees at the Triad Business Journal’s Alamance Growth Summit on March 12 that more Buc-ee’s travel centers are also possible for North Carolina.

Land grading started in November at the 32-acre site on the western edge of Mebane. The 74,000-square-foot building pad and stormwater ponds have taken shape, as well as the location of 60 pump stations (120 gas pumps) planned for the travel center.

Beard estimated the $60 million to $70 million investment could bring 5 million to 6 million people a year to Mebane.

N.C. Department of Transportation crews are installing a new bridge segment over I-40/85 and expanding the road to handle the anticipated boom in traffic. Buc-ee’s is paying about $10 million of the state’s $38.7 million road work budget.

When will Mebane see buildings?

Buc-ee’s oversize gas stations have a regional draw, selling mounds of hot brisket, candied Beaver nuggets, and an array of snacks and beaver-themed souvenirs. The bathrooms are celebrated as the cleanest in America.

The company intially wanted to build its first North Carolina store in Orange County, but dropped the project after opposition. The Mebane City Council approved the travel center in January 2024. It will be nearly the size of a Kohl’s department store and have over 200 full-time employees.

Mebane has not received a building permit application yet for the travel center, Mebane spokesperson Kelly Hunter said. It takes about 12 to 18 months to build a Buc-ee’s travel center.

Another massive development just north of the interstate may open first.

Walls have been going up for months on Koury Corp.’s Third & Wood mixed-use center, which is already attracting big-box retailers, including Target, Michaels, HomeGoods, Marshalls and Burlington. Restaurants and smaller shops are also planned, plus over 680 apartments and townhomes. A Duke Health medical office is being built next door.

Mebane, Graham sewer bills in court

Meanwhile, Mebane continues to work through its lawsuit with the city of Graham over how much each will pay for wastewater treatment facility upgrades. The lawsuit is not causing any delays in Buc-ee’s construction, Mebane city officials have said.

Mebane, Graham and Alamance County are partners in the 1,200-acre N.C. Commerce Park, which includes the Buc-ee’s site and several massive distribution warehouse operations.

Graham agreed to provide water and wastewater utilities to tenants in 2013 when the Commerce Park was established, and also agreed in 2017 to provide Mebane with another 750,000 gallons of wastewater treatment capacity a day. In return, Mebane agreed to pay 21% of the $84.6 million cost to upgrade Graham’s treatment facility.

But Graham later expanded the project to meet more stringent Jordan Lake water-quality rules and to accommodate the cities’ growth projections, according to the lawsuit. Mebane has not paid any of its cost for the project, it says.

Mebane City Attorney E. Lawson Brown said Mebane only learned about the expanded upgrade when an invoice arrived. He contends the expansion reduces Mebane’s share of the facility’s overall capacity to 15%, and as such, should also reduce its cost.

“We had no say in the project, so we’re trying to be fair and pay our fair share, and the dispute is over what is Mebane’s fair share,” Brown said.

Althought the dispute delayed Graham’s approval of a required report for Buc-ee’s utilities last summer, “Buc-ee’s is really not an issue anymore,” Brown told The News & Observer in December. Mebane reconfigured its sewer lines to serve the Koury project, so that it also would not be affected by the lawsuit.

The city is now advancing its own $92 million wastewater treatment expansion.

Graham city officials did not return The N&O’s calls seeking comment about the lawsuit.

This story was initially printed March 23, 2026 at 2:19 PM.