Lowe's Buys Site In Leesburg

LEESBURG, Va. - Welcome to the neighborhood, Lowe's.

At least that's the greeting the home improvement retail company is hoping to receive in the near future from the Leesburg Planning Commission and Town Council.

On June 22, Lowe's purchased land east of Leesburg from the partnership RR Leegate LLC, which had filed Chapter 11 in bankruptcy court in Alexandria. The court approved the contract July 14 and it is expected to close on or before the last week of August.

The 27-acre tract was purchased for $8 million. It neighbors the Village of Leesburg, future home of Wegmans. Lowe's public relations representative Colleen Carbott said the company does not comment on real estate transactions that have not yet closed.

The land is currently zoned business commercial and was approved by the town council as an office and auto park in 2004. Lowe's would be required to file for a rezoning permit to build the store. It could offer to finish the proposed Russell Branch Parkway as a proffer in exchange for permission to build. The still-unfinished parkway parallels Route 7 and has outlets on Battlefield Parkway and River Creek Parkway.

A Lowe's representative met with several council members with an "interesting proposal" last year, said council member Ken Reid. The representative, Richard Kabat, said he is no longer associated with the project. The building designs presented at that meeting, however, were "architecturally appropriate to Leesburg," Reid said. Reid added that he could not make a judgment on the permit until it had gone through the appropriate permitting process.

This would be the first Lowe's in Leesburg, which has a Home Depot. The closest Lowe's is in Sterling.

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