Evolution Fuels, J&J Developments Partner for C-stores

DALLAS -- Fuel marketer Evolution Fuels Inc. finalized negotiations with commercial real estate development firm J&J Developments Inc. to lease an initial three retail fuel stations and convenience stores owned by J&J, and the option to lease an additional 10 stations and truck stop travel plazas.

As part of its overall strategic plan, Evolution formed an alliance with J&J, which extends Evolution's planned rollout region to the state of Kansas, and helps to expedite the plan in other areas of the southwestern United States, the company stated.

"The retail locations in Kansas afford Evolution the opportunity of immediate operations of top-flight fuel stations in an excellent geographic region for the sale of blended renewable fuels," Evolution Fuels CEO Dennis McLaughlin said in a statement. "We are pleased to have an ideal partner in J&J for the rapid rollout of the Evolution Fuels brand in Kansas, and for the potential rollout of more stations in other strategic areas in the near future. We will continue to focus our efforts on similar rollouts in selected regions of the southwestern and southeastern United States."

The first lease is for a retail fuel location in Manhattan, Kan., which is currently in operations under the Evolution Fuels brand. The company expects to reimage the station within the next two weeks, and to implement blended ethanol sales as quickly as possible.

The second station is a newly built fuel station/convenience store within eastern Topeka, Kan. Evolution expects the scheduled construction to be complete and the station to be operational by the end of this month.

The third station is also a newly built fuel station/convenience store in Topeka. Scheduled construction is expected to be complete in mid-February.

As part of its agreement with J&J, Evolution also has an option to lease six additional fuel stations and four additional truck stop travel plazas, with all truck stops to be operated under Evolution's "Legends Travel Plazas" brand. In addition, Evolution has a one-year option to acquire any of the facilities that it leases from J&J.

Evolution is also finalizing a lease agreement for its first Dallas station, and anticipates executing the lease by the end of this week, followed by several weeks of engineering and construction.

The company also detailed the abandonment of several previously announced efforts to acquire or lease stations, including a second Dallas location, a fuel station in Alabama and one in Mississippi.
X
This ad will auto-close in 10 seconds