30-Acre Deep-Water Facility Sold in Port Arthur

The acquisition includes 60,586 sf of support buildings, with the acreage providing deep-water access to the Sabine-Neches Waterway. The asset once belonged to Sabine Towing & Transportation Co., which sold its Mississippi River-based towing operations to Houston-based Kirby Corp. in the early 1980s. Kirby, in turn, sold the facility in the late 1990s to Lone Star.

C.W. "Cappy" Ricks of the Houston office of Colliers International and Andy Brauninger of Seabulk Offshore represented Lone Star in the sale. R&R Marine Maintenance was represented by its president, Thomas Nugier. Ken Whitlow and Debbie Dengler, both of the Port Arthur Abstract and Title Co., closed the transaction.

Port Arthur is located on the Texas Gulf Coast about 90 miles east of Houston. The town has a population of about 60,000 and is home to three major oil refineries. Port Arthur is the most important terminus in the Kansas City Southern Railroad network.

R&R Marine Maintenance has deep roots in its home base of Port Arthur. Three years ago, the firm received a $100,000 grant from the Port Arthur Economic Development Corp. The grant was teamed with $4 million of R&R capital to launch an 800-ton floating pontoon, part of a heavy-lift dry dock on the Intracoastal waterway. The project succeeded in creating 100 jobs for the Port Arthur area.