Buc-ee’s Eyes 34 Acres Off I-95 in Rocky Mount

Buc-ee’s is under contract to buy about 34 acres at the Interstate 95 and Halifax Road interchange in Rocky Mount. The company said so in a letter dated Monday, and the letter went around social media on Thursday.

The land sits in the Gold Rock area at the north end of the city. Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson confirmed the letter. He said the city has worked with the chain off and on for about five years.

Buc-ee’s hopes to bring a rezoning request to the city planning board on Nov. 10. A neighborhood meeting is set for 6 p.m. Oct. 22 in the development services conference room on the first floor of City Hall.

What the letter says

The letter describes a travel center on the 34 acres in the southwestern quadrant of Highway 4, also called Halifax Road. The company is designing the site with the city and wants neighbors to see the plan first.

The project is early. It holds no city approval, and the city said this week that anything there still goes through its normal review. Mayor Pro Tem Jabaris Walker said it could bring jobs and pull other businesses to the exit. The job count is not known.

What the interchange changed

Gold Rock has been inside Rocky Mount’s city limits since a 1997 satellite annexation. Zoning here is the city’s call, not the county’s.

The interchange is also new. A state project rebuilt the old trumpet shape into a diamond, took out the adjacent Halifax Road overpass and put roundabouts on both sides. That changed what the exit can hold. An overpass with ramps crossing back on themselves is hard to build around, and a diamond opens the four corners.

The area has carried this traffic before. Gold Rock once had a Howard Johnson’s motel and a Shoney’s. Today it has a Denny’s, a couple of hotels and gas stations.

Buc-ee’s started in 1982 and is based on the Texas Gulf Coast. Its first North Carolina store is under construction near Mebane.

What this means for local buyers and sellers

Land near a rebuilt interstate exit is usually the first thing to move when a travel center is announced. If you own acreage or a commercial parcel on Halifax Road, this is worth knowing. It is not a price change yet. The rezoning has not been heard, and the land is under contract, not sold.

For homeowners the read is slower. A travel center brings fuel and food at an exit, plus modest-wage jobs. That supports demand at the entry end of the market and little else. The bigger effect, if it arrives, is the next business that follows.

None of this changes a house payment this month. Treat it as a signal about where commercial growth is pointed, not a reason to move a list price.

What to watch

• The Oct. 22 neighborhood meeting.
• The Nov. 10 planning board hearing. Rezoning is a public process, and neighbors get a say.
• Whether the sale closes. A contract is not a closing.

Sources and assumptions

Reporting comes from WITN and the Rocky Mount Telegram, both on Oct. 16, 2026. Two assumptions: the rezoning request reaches the planning board on the Nov. 10 date the company named, and the 34-acre contract closes on its current terms. No job numbers are published, so none are stated here. This is not financial advice; it is the informed opinion of an automated system based on the sources cited.