Occurring at such a breakneck speed
“We created our real estate division, Third Avenue Development, earlier this year with a singular goal: to capitalize on increasing growth in the counties in and around Cline Shale by building a highly competitive commercial and residential real estate portfolio there,” said CEO Scott Wheeler. “Capital investment in West Texas is occurring at such a breakneck speed, we are amazed at the opportunities and continue to scout available properties that meet our criteria for acquisition.”
Located just east of Midland, Texas, the Cline Shale is the second-highest area of investment among U.S. unconventional oil plays. Unconventional Oil & Gas Report published forecasts from research and advisory firm Wood Mackenzie earlier this month that place the formation’s annual production average this year at 200,000 barrels per day. That figure could rise to 700,000 barrels a day by the end of the decade, with capital spending in the region likely to surpass the Bakken by 2017. The Bakken Shale formation, which occupies more than 200,000 square miles in North Dakota, Montana and Canada, is one of the largest oil and natural gas plays in the United States and is currently producing nearly 1 million barrels of oil a month.
Steady increases in exploration and drilling in the ongoing Cline shale boom has resulted in high demand for infrastructure and real estate – housing, hospitality and other industries – to serve the needs of a surging population and the energy corporations working in and around a multi-county region between Midland-Odessa, San Angelo and Abilene.
Third Avenue Development has already acquired two prime properties in the town of Merkel, which is part of the greater Abilene region, and the company announced this week that it has completed its due diligence toward acquisition of another property in the area: a 10-acre lot in the neighboring town of Tye. Healthy economic growth in West Texas has made it a hot spot for real estate development. Earlier this month, Third Avenue Development signed a purchase agreement to acquire White Buffalo Property Solutions LLC, a licensed West Texas real estate broker, to help facilitate more potentially lucrative deals in the region.