7-Eleven Withdraws Application for Upper King Street Store

Southland Corp., owner of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, has withdrawn its request to build a new store near the intersection of King and Harvard streets in Old Town Alexandria.

"We’re very pleased that the application has been withdrawn," said Trey Hanbury, president of the Upper King Street Neighborhood Civic Association. "We're hoping to work with the owner of the building to make sure that it will have a use that benefits the entire community of King Street and nearby residents to bolster the good environment that we’ve worked so hard to create."

The civic association had sent a letter to the city asking that it deny a special use permit allowing the opening and operation of a 7-Eleven at that location.

“Our members have repeatedly voiced their opposition to the proposed store based on hard facts about the effect a twenty-four-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week store that stands less than forty feet from dozens of single family homes will have on our property values, our neighborhood, our children and our lives,” reads the letter signed by Hanbury.

More information as to exactly why the application was withdrawn was not available.