Gas station business opportunities within Columbus area
I’m am not sure if this is against community guidelines. I am currently in the gas station business. I was thinking about apartments, but after posting in this forum, I’ve decided against it for the time being. In the meantime, I was wondering if anyone in here knows about any possible opportunities for gas stations within the Columbus, Ohio region and around Franklin county as a whole. All the commercial agents I’ve worked with have been below subpar, so I was hoping someone within this forum could have some firsthand knowledge of the area.
[{"id": "iji70g9", "text": "Host Tesla Supercharger and Electrify America and convert your minimart/auto repair into a 24/7 diner/Waffle House/equivalent.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ijihfan", "text": "I\u2019d avoid gas stations in Columbus personally. \n\nWith Sheetz opening stores on every corner, it\u2019s going to be hard to compete.", "replies": [{"id": "ijiq58q", "text": "Yeah. Our current one is far from a sheetz and does great business. Thats why I\u2019m hoping to see if anyone has any locations outside Columbus, but still within Franklin county. Saves me lots of commute time", "replies": [{"id": "ijiqfh6", "text": "So you\u2019re looking for an existing gas station owner / operator that\u2019s for sale?", "replies": [{"id": "ijiqlqr", "text": "That, or locations where one can be built.", "replies": [{"id": "ijir04f", "text": "How much capital do you have? \n\nHow many existing locations do you have?\n\nWhat acreage do you need?", "replies": [{"id": "ijitohe", "text": "I have 2. I have around 1 million in capital. And I need around 1 acre. It needs to meet two of three criteria\n1. Busy intersection \n2. Large surrounding residential neighbor hood\n3. Off of the highway or freeway", "replies": [{"id": "ijiy843", "text": "The C-Store market is super competitive. If you want a broker to work with you one thing you may need to ask yourself is, why would they bring you a site as opposed to try and do the deal directly with circle k or sheetz, or try to tie up the corner either themselves or with a developer they have a relationship with and try to work at least or a build to suit deal. \n\nIf I was a broker, or interviewing with a c-store chain, I would be asking, what are the conditions that this client / end user needs to close? If you can close at zoning (i.e. once the site is rezoned or zoned to allow a C-Store that gives you a competitive advantage over the other players from an activation strategy standpoint). \n\nOther questions would be, what kind of access do you need? Generally the majors need a full movement into the site in order for the deal to get approved. If you can live with two right in right outs that is also a competitive edge. Being able to make through on an acre additionally affords some benefits. You are so competing with the car wash world though for 1 acre corners which often fall under the same zonig regulations. \n\nIf I was in your shoes, or any acquisition role and they highly competitive market, I think there are two strategies. \n\n1. Find a young, up and coming broker to be your exclusive representative. Make sure they have capacity and can work on this account, and make sure that you are incentivizing them with a flat fee, hard to say at least 50k. Also make sure they know that you are working with them exclusively. No one who is thinking rationally is going to spend any time on this kind of account if they are competing on the search. Also, if someone's working hard on your behalf make sure you appreciate them. Being kind and appreciative of people's hard work goes a long way. \n\n2. If you have some of competitive advantage from an activision standpoint, just let all the retail brokers in the area and now that you can close at zoning, anal paid an above market fee for any deal they find on or off market and protect them on the fee. In this case you don't have exclusive representation, so no one's going to work that hard on this but if they find something and can lob it to you quick it is worth getting the word out there. The other face of option two is that you are going to have to carry the water for cold calling, checking zoning/utilities etc, and finding the site.", "replies": [{"id": "ijkk62y", "text": "I agree with your post. \n\nHowever; if he only needs 1 acre then Sheetz / Get Go and Circle K wouldn\u2019t be able to SP on the site anyway.", "replies": [{"id": "ijrm1hg", "text": "I agree, definitely competitive advantage. Still have to fight with a car wash crowd", "replies": [{"id": "ijrn25i", "text": "Ya that\u2019s a fair point. \n\nThey are blowing up", "replies": [], "depth": 10}], "depth": 9}], "depth": 8}], "depth": 7}], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ijj64ih", "text": "long term ground lease or purchase only?", "replies": [{"id": "ijj66wb", "text": "Purchase", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]