By Rob Fraser/Staff Writer
During the last two years there has been more business activity in Cleburne than “we’ve seen in a long time,” the city’s economic development director, Jerry Cash, said last week. The energy industry has driven much of the activity, he said.
There has been some improvement in the retail business in Cleburne with the new Lowe’s home improvement store, the Goody’s store at Nolan River Mall and new restaurants.
“There are also several new businesses in the planning stages right now,” he said.
The economic condition in Cleburne has been “very positive and we would like to see it remain that way for the foreseeable future,” he said.
Residential construction is down a little bit since there has been some increase in interest rates, but “I don’t think they are high enough yet to slow or to cause residential building to come to a halt,” Cash said. “You still get a mortgage for 6 1/2 percent on a 30-year note,” he said.
Apartment construction is still strong with 156 units planned for the East Kilpatrick Street area. Ground breaking should be in the next few months. A 180-apartment complex planned for the area between the extension of Hyde Park Boulevard and North Nolan River Road is in the planning and approval process.
A planned and gated 14-unit development on Hyde Park Boulevard near Nolan River Mall and Stonegate Drive, is being designed for older people who want to downsize from their present homes to smaller duplex units, Cash said.
Near the planned development there have been discussions about building a strip center.
“In the multi-family segment that’s more than we have had in several years,” he said.
A 60-unit assisted living center is also being built on Colonial Drive with land behind it for possible future expansion, and more mini-storage buildings are planned on North Nolan River Road near West Kilpatrick Street close to an existing storage facility complex.
The occupancy rates for apartment complexes are running “in the high 90s, while the housing market is a little tight. People who are moving here are saying the housing selection is limited. Most of the new houses being built are for the entry-level market and a lot of the gas and energy jobs pay better and the people are looking for a higher-priced home,” Cash said.
Many of the companies opening up in Cleburne and the rest of the county are energy-related, he said. They provide services and products for natural-gas drilling activity.
Many of the companies that initially explore moving to Cleburne end up outside the city limits to avoid having to comply with city codes, such as sprinkler systems, and for less expensive land, Cash said.
Though some unincorporated county property is going for a premium price. He cited one example where an energy-industry company purchased just over 17 acres of land on Texas 171 North near Cresson for about $500,000.
Another purchase of 106 acres three miles north of Cresson sold for $5,900 per acre, more than $600,000, Cash said.
“Three years ago that kind of land at $2,000 an acre would have killed the deal,” he said.
For one 14-acre piece of property on Texas 171 North, on the Cleburne side of Godley, the owner is asking $30,000 an acre, Cash said. “And there is no access,” he said. Originally there was a railroad crossing but when the property sold to the new owner the railroad crossing didn’t transfer with the property. “$30,000 an acre with no access is pretty high,” he said. Some property on Windmill Road is selling for $30,000 an acre, but that includes a good road, railroad access and Cleburne city water and sewer, Cash said.
Fort Worth Western Railroad train traffic from Cresson to Cleburne has increased dramatically during the last year or so, Cash said. Again he attributed the increases to energy-companies moving in along Texas 171, he said.
Cash said he sees the area of North Nolan River toward U.S. 67 as becoming prime commercial property later and “the good part of it is we have city water and sewer in place for most of the way.”
Some of the companies that have moved in or are building include:
F Baker-Petro Light, which has leased a site behind Trend Services, off U.S. 67.
F Weatherford International, which purchased acreage at the intersection of Texas 171 and Pipeline Road.
F Comfort Inn on North Main Street, which recently opened an addition to its existing motel.
F Triad, a water reclamation company to service energy companies, which has opened across from Comfort Inn.
F Skyline Chemical, which sits off Texas 171 on more than 4 acres and opened three months ago selling acid to energy companies.
F Crude Oil Field Services, which occupies 2 acres and recently leased seven more close to Skyline Chemical. Crude Oil Field does path site work and installs lease entrances to the well sites.
F GS Bleach, which is opening a facility on the DPC Co. site to sell bleach to large discount stores.
F Key Energy, which is constructing a facility on the westside of Windmill Road. Key Energy offers multiple-lines of well service and hired 20 employees last week. During the next 18 months the company expects to have 150 employees on the 42-acre site
F SYNSIL Products, owned by Minerals Technologies Inc., which is expected to have its facility up and running in December. The company will produce 200,000 tons of raw material a year for the manufacturing part of the glass industry. The company will have between 20 and 25 employees.
F Schlumberger, a French-owned international oil and gas company, which is building a facility that will handle parking for 100 trucks on its 28-acre Windmill Road site. The company hopes to be up and running in late fall, Cash said. The facility will cost between $4 million and $5 million.
Several homeowners along Windmill Road have sold their property for industrial expansion, he said. Some of the residents didn’t want to live in the area as it grows more heavily industrialized, he said.
“One woman with 5 acres wants to sell her property because there is a gas well drilling rig on the next property and said she wants to get out of the area because of the drilling. But she may have to move out of Johnson County or the Barnett Shale area to get away from drilling activity,” Cash said.
About 35-acres at the intersection of Texas 171 and County Road 1018 was recently annexed into Cleburne and rezoned at the request of the property owner, Frac-Tech Services. The company primarily brings in frac sand to frac wells and provides high pressure pumps at the well site.
One thing that is needed on Texas 171 is a large truck stop, Cash said. There are more than 400 trucks a day going to the Wal-Mart Distribution Center and another 200 trucks a day are operating out of the energy companies. Traffic between Industrial Boulevard and Windmill Road increased from 5,500 about 18 months ago to more than 7,000 vehicles now, Cash said.
On Industrial Boulevard a Dallas company, 4-Star Hose and Supply, should be opening in the next 30 days. The company purchased 9 acres and built a 12,000-square-foot facility on a 3-acre site. The remaining 6 acres was sold to an energy company out of Houston. The company plans to build a 16,000-square-foot facility, Cash said. The company builds and maintains well head units.
Cash said the size of the industrial complex in Cleburne is incredible.
“There are close to 4,000 people employed in the industrial plants,” he said.
One company in the complex, RubberMaid, left Cleburne in late 2003 and the employees were picked up by other companies. There was hardly a ripple in the city’s unemployment rate, Cash said.
A new company, named Chaulk Services, another energy service business, recently purchased a building on East Kilpatrick across from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Administration building, he said. The company is from New Mexico.
Cash said these are only a few of the companies that have moved into the Cleburne area. Though most are related to the energy industry there are a few that are not and that is a good sign for the diversity that is needed in the industrial base, he said.
Rob Fraser can be reached at 817-645-2441,
ext. 2336, or rfraser@trcle.com.
