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One of the constant questions we’ve heard over the last six months has been about the Wawa and Harbor Freight projects being built in Prince Edward County. And now we have somewhat of a timeframe to share about when the doors should open. 

According to both Wawa officials and Prince Edward County staff, there’s a good chance that will be the first of the two projects to be completed. Located at the corner of Commerce Road and Highway 15, Greybeale Construction Inc. is on site now, finishing up the construction portion of the work. 

“The Wawa site, that’s slated to be open in mid-February now,” Prince Edward County Planner Robert Love told the county planning commission during their November meeting. So that’s February of 2025, with the carwash that’s going to operate on the same parcel of land potentially done in January. 

For those that might need a reminder, once construction is complete, Wawa will be a convenience store, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The operation is expected to employ around 50 employees to run the store and fuel station.

The gas station will have eight gas pumps with the potential of adding charging stations for electric cars in the future, which was a requirement placed by the county planning commission before it got approved last year by county supervisors. The store is expected to be a 6,000-square-foot store with eight gas pumps on the property.

What about Harbor Freight? 

And now we come to the second project in that area of the county. Work also continues on the Harbor Freight store, going up in front of the corner of Lowe’s, where Dominion Drive is. Now this one is a bit different from the other construction projects going up in Prince Edward County, as it has a much faster track. That’s because in order to get built, Harbor Freight didn’t need to go before any groups for approval. For that zoning district, a business like Harbor Freight is a use permitted by right. It means once an applicant meets the requirements and checks off all the boxes, they can move forward instead of waiting on a vote. And the Harbor Freight developer, Twin River Capital LLC, has done all that. 

However, both the county and Harbor Freight officials are a bit more hesitant to put an actual date on when the doors will open. It’s projected to be along a similar track, mid to late February or potentially early March.