Mark Yardley, a principal owner in the 333 Eagles Landing LLC group, addressed a large group of city officials and residents at a ground-breaking ceremony, Jan. 24 for a new travel center being built at the I-15 Exit 118 interchange west of Mesquite. Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

After moving millions of cubic feet of dirt and rearranging the landscape, the first new commercial project at the recently-built Exit 118 I-15 interchange broke ground on Jan. 24 with a projected opening date in early fall.

Eagles Landing Travel Center will have a Flying J truck stop, a Wendy’s fast food restaurant, a Pepperoni Pizza outlet, a convenience store, a full-service liquor store and a tire repair facility. The entire project will consume close to 20 acres of a 105 acre parcel the business group purchased from the city in September 2016.

Approximately 17 acres of the 20-acre site will be dedicated to 80 parking stalls for semi-tractor trailer trucks.

Mark Yardley, a principal owner in the 333 Eagles Landing LLC group, expressed his appreciation to the city and the Mesquite Regional Business Inc. economic development organization for their help in putting the project together.

Yardley projected the total cost of the facilities at just over $10 million.

“We’re grateful to having the Flying J brand back with us,” Yardley said. “That’s instant business for us,” he said referring to numerous trucking companies that have purchase contracts with the nationwide truck stop retailer.

Yardley anticipates that about 100 construction jobs will be generated by the project, scattered among different subcontractors. He also foresees a workforce of 80 full-time and part-time employees once the facility is open.

“This is a great opportunity to expand business in Mesquite,” said Jeff Powell, chairman of the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. “This project will bring additional revenues and income streams to the city and other businesses. It brings people off the interstate and into town. It will be a first-class operation and a win-win for everyone.”

Yardley said he began looking at Mesquite about four years ago as a place to expand his truck stop business. “It came about because of this new exit off the interstate. I think it’s going to impact Mesquite in a very positive way with the jobs we’ll be bringing in and the tax revenues we’ll generate,” Yardley said.

City officials and owners of the 333 Eagles Landing LLC group break ground at the site of a new $10 million travel center destined to open by early fall on the west side of Mesquite at the I-15 Exit 118 interchange. Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

Mayor Al Litman said “this project will bring the city more tax dollars that we need. If we can put another 60 to 80 people to work over time, it will help us immensely. Of course, everyone is as excited about the Wendy’s as they are anything else.”

Dan Wright, Chairman of the Board of Directors for Mesquite Regional Business said “this type of business will pull cars off the freeway and into town. That will bring more money into town. I think the biggest factor will be the increased employment Eagles Landing will generate. Adding to our employment base has a huge economic impact. It helps all the other businesses locally to have that money coming in to our community. I think this will be a catalyst for development around Exit 118 when people start seeing this going up.”