Floyd welcomes future Love’s station
Area residents celebrate project opening at City Hall
City of Floyd officials stand with the Charles City Area Development Coorporation and Love’s Travel Stop project management during the groundbreaking ceremony held at Floyd City Hall yesterday. The ceremony was moved from the future Love’s location after heavy rain in the area.
By Kate Hayden
khayden@charlescitypress.com
Rain or shine, the show must go on –– as it did at the Floyd City Hall on Wednesday, where city officials, county residents and representatives of Love’s Travel Stops participated in an indoors groundbreaking ceremony.
The new gas station and travel complex will be located on 15 acres across from the current 218 Fuel Express Truck Stop in Floyd, along the Avenue of the Saints.
It’s been nearly two years since Love’s first pinpointed Floyd as a potential location, Real Estate Project Manager Bill Gleason said. Construction will take six months, with an anticipated opening date of Dec. 22, he added.
“There’s a real good truck and car count up here, and there wasn’t a lot of restaurants,” Gleason said. “It’ll be a regular-sized Love’s, with showers for the drivers, and I think we’re going to park around 80 truck parks.”
The travel stop will also feature Subway, Godfather’s Pizza and Chester Fried Chicken, Gleason said. The building, which will cover about 10,000 square feet, will employ around 40 people. The starting wage will be more than 20 percent above the average retail wage in Floyd County, said Tim Fox, director of the Charles City Area Development Corporation.
“Love’s turnover is significantly less than the industry average,” Fox said. “This is a significant capital investment and kind of justifies use of such a high-profile intersection.”
Floyd will also benefit from a stronger tax base, Fox added.
“The assessed valuation for the city of Floyd is anticipated to go up 44 percent,” he said.
Based in Oklahoma City, Love’s Travel Stops recently announced the company will open more than 40 locations nationwide in 2016. Construction in Floyd is expected to begin May 9, Gleason said.
“The city, the county, everybody’s been great to work with through this whole process. It’s really been a good experience,” Gleason said. “Love’s is really excited to work with the Floyd location.”
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