Jerry Yoder, executive vice president of the Dallas Retail Division of Henry S. Miller Realty Services LLC, arranged the transaction on behalf of his son, who owns Yoder Partners. According to the elder Yoder, the property was listed with a Tyler-based broker for close to two years with no action before he took over the assignment. After coming on board, he made calls to several national companies with which he had previously done business and quickly had a deal under way.

"It didn't take us long after I got the listing," he tells GlobeSt.com. "When I contacted Pilot and told them about it, they were very interested. Probably the local Tyler guy put signs up on the property, but he didn't have the network of contacts like we do in Dallas."

The quick sales agreement, however, did not result in a quick closing. According to Yoder, the property was under contract for a year and a half. "They were trying to get their ducks in a row as far as utilities to the site go," he explains. "The property is not in the city of Tyler, but it is in its jurisdiction. The buyer thought they were going to have to put an on-site utility system in themselves. But the buyer and seller talked to city, and it ended up that Tyler would design, build and construct a sewer system to the site, so the developer wouldn't have all the costs on its shoulders."