Southeast Texas Commercial Real Estate News – Port Arthur Commercial Construction Forecast

February 17, 2017

Development Companies, General Contractors, Management Companies, Property Owners, Subcontractors & Commercial Services

On today’s edition of Southeast Texas Commercial Real Estate News, we provide a Port Arthur commercial construction forecast for 2017 and beyond.

We sat down with Port Arthur Chamber President Bill McCoy to talk about forecasting the Mid County economy.

According to Bill, the biggest factor driving the Port Arthur commercial / industrial construction and real estate market continues to be LNG.

Many Southeast Texas businesses have lived the feast and famine cycle of the Southeast Texas oil industry. The highs are exhilarating, but the lows can cripple a small or even mid-sized business.

First – most of the lows affect businesses tied to exploration and drilling. McCoy pointed out that the refineries themselves make money whether oil is at $100 a barrel or $50.

We do have a lot of businesses in the exploration and drilling sectors, and those have been greatly affected by changes in the price of oil. When the price of oil is up, these companies move a tremendous amount of money through the economy – they hire lots of people, they buy lots of company (and personal) trucks, and they build sprawling complexes where they can fabricate or store mats and drilling equipment, or whatever they need for their particular specialty. When the price of the oil is down for too long, they have big layoffs, they stop buying new vehicles, and their complexes are locked up for sale or lease during the next uptick.

LNG will provide the Mid County economy with a buffer during what has been a famine cycle in the past. The beauty of our two new “Mega” LNG terminals is that they are set up to import or export with equal ease.

When the price swings to make importing more attractive, Cheniere and Golden Pass LNG can bring in enormous quantities of LNG for the domestic market. If the price swings the other way and it is economically more attractive to export LNG, the plants can flip the switch and start exporting at an equal rate.

What is more important than whether we’re exporting or importing LNG at any given time is the stability of the jobs – and the resulting stability of their dollars. Stability at the plants whether LNG is selling high or low, translates into job stability which make it easier for workers to commit to buying homes, shiny new Ford trucks and Mustangs, furniture, and the other cogs that keep the Mid County community humming.

More stable income for workers makes them comfortable treating the family to new outfits at Central Mall, splurging on a nice dinner at The Beau Reve or La Suprema, or buying a boat to fully explore the world class fishing offered by Sabine Pass, Lake Sam Rayburn, and Toledo Bend.

The stability of the plants will also mean a sustained need for all of the support businesses that are needed to keep a plant humming: plumbers, electricians, caterers, and industrial construction firms for upgrades and expansions.

It’s always wonderful when our local contractors are working – all of that money stays in the local economy. When these businesses are comfortable looking at catering vans, plumbing trucks, private school tuition, and hiring more employees it is a win for the whole community.

Our local economy will always have a blessing from the oil industry and refineries. They are the keystones that hold the economy together and we are grateful for them.

Think of LNG as the cousin with a nice well paying middle class job – maybe not as flashy as the oil industry during a boom, but you can always depend on them when other market sectors get tough.

Are there ways your business can grow by serving the LNG sector?

Both Cheniere and Golden Pass LNG have made a sincere effort to dialogue with Southeast Texas owned businesses- and to hire employees from within our communities.

Find out more about these plants and get a feel for how they (and their workforce) can be part of your growth in 2016 and beyond:

Golden Pass LNG:

3752 S Gulfway Dr, Sabine Pass, TX 77655
(409) 971-4200

GoldenPassTerminal.com

Cheniere LNG

9243 Gulf Beach Hwy, Cameron, LA 70631
(337) 569-7700

Cheniere.com/LNG_terminals

There is more big news coming for Port Arthur and Mid County and we’ll start tackling it in upcoming editions of the Southeast Texas Commercial Real Estate News.

We’d like to offer a big Southeast Texas Commercial Real Estate Magazine thank-you to Bill McCoy and the Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce for all of their time and insight in putting together this article.