From Botetourt County: Consultants hired to determine the economic opportunities available in the Exit 150 area of Botetourt County reported yesterday that the area has the potential to support significant new retail, hotel, and housing development. RKG Associates told members of the County’s Board of Supervisors that there is underserved retail demand from households from Exit 150 north to Covington and Lexington and from travelers along Interstate 81. They also reported that there is opportunity to attract upper midscale hotels and to develop apartments and townhouses that could appeal to and attract younger residents. Specifically, the consultants estimate that the area where Interstate 81 and US Routes 220 and 11 converge has the potential for between 215,000 and 328,000 square feet of new retail development, ranging from restaurants to auto parts and sporting goods stores to a specialty fashion center or outlet mall. The consultants cautioned that achieving the potential of Gateway Center — the name given the area by County officials — assumes that “suitable sites can be provided in the future to accommodate these uses.”
