
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 20, 1994                   TAG: 9410200069
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FOOD LION EYES HOT PROPERTY

Food Lion Inc. has taken an option on land for a 30,000-square-foot shopping center including one of its supermarkets, the first phase of a proposed 360-acre development near Daleville in Botetourt County.

The Salisbury, N.C.-based grocery chain must win rezoning and county approval of the development for six acres fronting on U.S. 220.

Food Lion put down a deposit to get the owner of the land, Jim Hancock, to hold the 500 feet of road frontage it wants for its store, a drugstore and five other shops. In July, Hancock announced plans for $220 million of residential and commercial development near the intersection of U.S. 220 and Interstate 81.

Hancock said Food Lion purchased a six-month option. The land's purchase price would be in excess of $500,000.

Rowland Wampler, a Botetourt County realty agent who put together the deal for Food Lion, said the company plans to hire 30 to 40 full-time employees and about 20 part-time workers.

If the project gets county approval, the store could open as early as the fall of 1995. Food Lion engineers were in Fincastle on Tuesday to discuss the project with county officials.

Hancock said Kroger Co., another supermarket operator, also expressed interest in the site, but Food Lion was the first to get it under contract. Hancock said a representative of Kroger's real estate department asked to be informed if the Food Lion deal fell through.

Carrie Pugh of Kroger's real estate division confirmed Wednesday that she discussed the land with Hancock. "It's just an interest area," she said.

Development of the store would make Food Lion the second major grocer to locate in the Daleville-Cloverdale area. Winn-Dixie has had a store in the area for several years.

The U.S. 220 corridor near I-81's Exit 150 has recently become a hot spot for commercial development in Botetourt County. Sources familiar with the area said fast-food chains Taco Bell and Rally's Hamburgers also have expressed interest in locating near the exit.

Some county officials predict that more-upscale restaurants will locate there if next month's referendum approves liquor-by-the-drink sales.

by CNB