Shell Gas Station, Highway 71, Ellinger, Ellinger

At $2.5 million this is a branded Shell station on Highway 71 at Ellinger, and the location is doing most of the work in that number. Ellinger sits on the Houston to Austin run, in Fayette County, at a point where traffic has been moving for an hour and has another hour to go.

What the price point means

• A station at $2.5 million in rural Fayette County is almost certainly selling with the real estate, not as a business-only assignment. That is a different deal from the $275,000 business-only stations on this desk, and it needs a different buyer.
• Highway stations earn their money from people who were never going to stop anywhere else. The catchment is the road, not the town.
• Branded supply at a highway site is worth more than branded supply at a neighborhood site, because fuel volume follows traffic.

Three things to check before writing an offer

• Which side of the highway, and the turn. On a two-direction highway run the morning side and the evening side are different businesses. Sit in the lot on a weekday and a Sunday and count. Then look at how easy the turn in and the turn out actually are for a pickup towing something, because that is the customer.
• The tanks and the environmental file. Underground storage tanks make a Phase I standard on any financed fuel property, and a Phase II where the first one flags. Tank age, the leak detection records and the regulatory history all matter, and on a rural site with a long history they matter more. This is the single item most likely to move the price or kill the deal.
• The fuel supply agreement, and whether it transfers. A Shell site runs under a supply agreement with the brand or a jobber, and it has to be assigned to the buyer with their approval. Approval commonly takes four to eight weeks and is not automatic. Start it the day the offer is accepted.

Who it fits

• An operator who already runs one or more fuel sites and understands highway volume, buying real estate as well as a business.
• A buyer who wants the land underneath, because at this price that is most of what they are paying for.

Who it does not fit

• A first-time buyer looking for a small entry into fuel retail. The business-only deals at a fraction of this price are the route in.
• An absentee owner. Rural highway sites run on staffing, and staffing in a small town is its own problem.

Financing

• Fuel properties with real estate are common SBA 504 and 7(a) deals, and the real estate component often sits better in a 504 structure.
• The lender will want the environmental assessment, the fuel supply agreement and the trailing financials, and the environmental work sets the timeline.
• Under the rules effective October 1, 2026 the equity injection is 10 percent of total project cost, and on a special purpose property such as a fuel site a 504 lender may look for 15 percent.

Not a commitment to lend. Subject to lender underwriting. Terms vary by borrower.

Next step

Fuel volumes, inside sales, margins and the trailing financials are released after a signed NDA is verified.