TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Buc-ee’s is one step closer to opening its location on the outskirts of Florida’s capital city. The company plans to break ground sometime between January and March of next year.
Multiple county officials confirmed the Buc-ee’s is expected to break ground in Q1 of 2026, with opening sometime in MID-2027. The company had been under contract to buy 30 acres on Capital Circle near I-10. Now, the deal is closed.
Heather Richmond, the vice president of Meyer Development, announced the sale in a LinkedIn post. No official statement has been released by Buc-ee’s as of Tuesday afternoon, but the company previously told WCTV it needed to check “a number of boxes.”
Leon County Commission Chair Christian Caban and Commissioner Rick Minor said the company would bring some 200 jobs to unincorporated Leon County, with six of those jobs paying $100,000 a year or more.
“So when Buc-ee’s opens, that’s 200 jobs, six of them paying more than a hundred thousand dollars a year,” Minor said. “And then Meyer Development is also marketing 20 acres of commercial activity right next to Buc-ee’s in addition to some additional land for residential use.”
Minor said traffic concerns will need to be addressed during the site plan process, which could include the company picking up some of the tab for road improvements. He noted Capital Circle is a state road, and that Buc-ee’s planners will be keen to make entry and exit easier for customers.
“And that’s going to be a very transparent process. We’ll have public hearings where we provide that information to the public. We talk about it with the public and then go from there,” Minor said.
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Caban noted the company will bring in both property and sales tax dollars, especially from tourists who may not otherwise stop in Tallahassee.
“Buc-ee’s closing on the property is really the first firm step to them building a footprint in Leon County,” Caban said.
Environmentalists remain concerned about cutting trees and disturbing the habitat for deer, foxes and fauna. Claudia Sperber, the president of the Tallahassee chapter of the Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida, said county leaders should consider a development moratorium once Buc-ee’s is built.
“We need to have planning… We could develop, if we slowed down, to ensure when we go and develop somewhere there’s what you call wildlife corridors,” said Sperber.
She went on to say that when too much habitat is eliminated, the wildlife infiltrates nearby neighborhoods.
“We’re talking about the everyday wildlife that will literally have no place to go. And then you know what happens when they have nowhere to go? They come into neighborhoods. It’s not safe,” Sperber said.
The Buc-ee’s has apparently overcome concerns about signage. The patented sign would be too tall under Leon County’s ordinances, but Caban said urban planners and the company will likely agree to a variance. Minor said that could involve tilting the sign a certain way or other considerations.
“From my understanding there’s a common understanding (that) our team will work very well through the sign issue with Buc-ee’s,” Caban said.
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