Rite Aid move in works

Plans for a new Rite Aid pharmacy, a neighboring Fas Mart convenience store, and a separate retail facility on Route 60 near Bottoms Bridge in New Kent are approaching the final approval stage by county planning staff. Construction work could begin early this year.

Developers plan to build a 14,667 square-foot Rite Aid on the site now occupied by the building that once housed Lipscomb Hardware. The location is the south side of Route 60 at the Route 249 intersection.

County economic development director Rodney Hathaway said Rite Aid plans to close its store in the New Kent Crossing shopping center on Route 249 once the new store is completed.

Plans submitted by Prince George County-based Blackwood Development also call for replacing the nearby Fas Mart with a 4,746 square-foot facility that features eight gasoline islands.

The existing Fas Mart would remain open while work is under way, Hathaway said. Plans ultimately call for tearing down the existing structure.

Developers also propose to build a separate 6,780 square-foot retail building behind the Fas Mart. Plans show more than two dozen parking spaces for each location along with 60 for the Rite Aid store.

Hathaway said the developer’s plans have been in county planning staff hands since last February, but there have been several revisions since.

“There were site issues that had to be discussed and that delayed things. Several revisions to the site plan were submitted by the applicant,” he said.

“But we’re at the point now in planning where we feel comfortable with the site plan,” he added. “We’re just waiting on some outside agency approval.”

Due to the revisions, Hathaway said he is unsure of a timeline for starting construction work and opening the new stores.

“I’m sure they want to break ground by next spring,” he said.