AHOSKIE – Wal-Mart will open a SuperCenter in Ahoskie.

Yesterday (Friday), Glen Wilkins, Senior Manager of Wal-Mart’s Public Affairs office in Atlanta, Ga., confirmed his company’s intentions to construct a 156,000 square-foot facility in a field adjacent to the current Wal-Mart located in the Ahoskie Commons Shopping Center.

The confirmation came three days after members of the Ahoskie Town Council unanimously approved the voluntary annexation of one piece of property and followed by voting in favor of a pair of rezoning requests. That action came during Tuesday’s regularly meeting of the town council where two separate public hearings were held. No one spoke in favor or in opposition of the either of the measures.

“I have yet to see any building plans, but it is to my understanding that construction on the new Wal-Mart store is scheduled to begin as early as February of next year,” Hammond said on Thursday.

Hammond did say he had seen the stormwater infrastructure plans for the property.

“I have forwarded those plans to our town engineering firm (The Wooten Company) for their approval,” Hammond said.

Wilkins said the SuperCenter is scheduled to open during the first quarter of 2008. He added that without any major delays or weather-related work stoppages, it normally takes 10 months to construct a SuperCenter.

The new Ahoskie Wal-Mart will include a garden center, full-service pharmacy and grocery store. Wilkins said there will be no tire and lube express or gas station at the Ahoskie location.

On Tuesday, Ahoskie Council members approved the voluntary annexation of a 20.594-acre tract of land, now an empty field, south of Ahoskie Commons. The property is owned by Joseph G. Maddrey of Eden, NC.

Maddrey also requested the Town of Ahoskie rezone the 20.594 acres from R-20 (residential) and I-L (light industrial) to B-2 (business district). In addition, Charles Pierce of Colerain made a similar request, asking for the former location of Pierce Printers, on US 13 south, to be rezoned from I-L to B-2.

Both rezoning requests were made through the Greenville, S.C. office of Freeland and Kauffman, Inc., listed as a developer for Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust.

Ahoskie Town Council members unanimously approved both rezoning requests.

Wilkins said he was unaware of any plans for the existing Ahoskie Wal-Mart.

“We have a very aggressive real estate team that is dedicated to finding tenants for our properties,” Wilkins said.

In an unrelated matter, council members, following a public hearing where no one spoke for or against the measure, approved the voluntary annexation of 50.96 acres owed by Bernice M. Serbin of Seaville, N.J. That property is an area continuous to the Town of Ahoskie, located at the end of Everett Street and Peachtree Street.

Hammond said there were no immediate development plans for the property. He did add that the property may be used for an apartment complex.