Being snatched up by energy companies
A few years ago, long-vacant buildings of any size in South Texas were being snatched up by energy companies.
Former hunting lodges and closed-down feed stores were filled up seemingly overnight by operators of oil field service companies and suppliers working in the Eagle Ford Shale.
Companies unable to find sites started buying their own land and building their own structures. Developers added industrial buildings - mostly metal structures with 5,000 to 20,000 square feet of space and an office out front - in rural communities across South Texas.
Now with crude prices hovering around $55 per barrel, down from more than $100 this summer, the market for commercial property is shifting in South Texas, though not as much as might be expected.
Garrett Ruple of Pleasanton-based Ruple Properties said the fall in oil prices isn't yet showing up in major ways, though everyone is talking about it. The market for leasing - but not purchasing - warehouses remains strong. But, Ruple said, many companies no longer want to be tied to owning their own properties.