Construction and demolition are about to change a prominent corner in the Poplar Corridor.

A new BP gas station and convenience store will soon rise on the vacant lot at 3280 Poplar Ave., the northeast corner of Poplar Avenue and South Holmes Street.

That’s where a drive-thru hamburger restaurant operated — across South Homes Street from East High School — until it closed and was demolished a couple of years ago.

A rendering of the BP gas station and convenience store that will soon rise at 3280 Poplar, at Holmes. (Courtesy: Poplar Investment LLC) 
A rendering of the BP gas station and convenience store that will soon rise at 3280 Poplar, at Holmes. (Courtesy: Poplar Investment LLC)
Next door at 3294 Poplar Ave., the mid-century modern office building, called the Century Building, has been vacated of tenants. Demolition crews were busy Thursday clearing out the interior in preparation for demolition to make room for an automated car wash.

The car wash will be the first of several, Florida-based Woodie’s Wash Shacks planned in the Memphis market.

The BP station/convenience store will be a 4,500-square-foot building. In front will be a fuel island under a 15-foot canopy.

The store’s façade will be brick and stone.

The planned gas station/convenience store is on the the corner of two collector streets, Poplar and Holmes, and across Holmes from East High School. (Courtesy: Poplar Investment LLC)
The planned gas station/convenience store is on the the corner of two collector streets, Poplar and Holmes, and across Holmes from East High School. (Courtesy: Poplar Investment LLC)
The convenience store will occupy most of the building, but 1,200 square feet on the east end will be leased to another business by commercial brokers Barry D. Maynard and Frank Dyer III of Gill Properties.

Maynard represented the ground-lease tenant, Poplar Investments LLC, in the deal.

The length of the ground lease is 50 years and three months, with two long-term options.

Shawn Massey and Dustin Jones of TSCG represented the landowner, Alfred Kasselberg of Nashville.

No more planning approvals are required for the convenience store and gas station. The building permits have been issued, Maynard said, and completion is expected by Feb. 1.

The site is a strong location for the BP station because it’s on the economically strong Poplar Avenue and it’s on a corner with a stop light and two major streets.

About 30,000 motorists a day drive by the site, which is surrounded by neighborhoods with above-average household incomes, Maynard said.