Willie’s Place to reopen as a Petro truck stop

TravelCenters of America will convert Willie’s Place into a Petro Stopping Center, expected to open in late April.

TCA bought the Dallas-area property March 1 after it was posted for foreclosure, said company spokesman Tom Liutkus. TCA had the winning bid of $6.4 million, according to a March 8 story in The Hillsboro (Texas) Reporter.

“We have a team of people assessing the property as we speak so our detailed plans are not yet final,” Liutkus said. “We are currently interviewing former employees and new candidates for the projected job positions we will need.”

On Jan. 11, Judge Harlin Hale of U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Northern District of Texas permitted the business’ financial backers to foreclose on the truck stop after rejecting its Chapter 11 reorganization plan.

The Carl’s Corner convenience store and truck stop opened Willie Nelson’s Truck Stop, DBA as Willie’s Place, in late 2008, off of U.S. 35. Carl Cornelius is president and Nelson is an equity holder, court documents stated.

New Jersey-based SBL Capital Funding financed completion of the truck stop in February 2008. It employed nearly 80 people but was never profitable, according to the court.

Cornelius founded the town of Carl’s Corner in the late 1980s to house Carl’s Corner Truck Stop. In 2005, Cornelius and Nelson opened the concert theater Willie’s Place at the truck stop, located 15 miles from the singer’s