Natural-Gas Family Office Targets Convenience Retail and Fuel Distribution

Two Texas Presidents, capitalized by Haynesville holdings, will deploy into operating businesses and the real estate beneath fuel and convenience infrastructure over the next five years.

By the Family Office Real Estate Daily Desk·Thursday, October 15, 2026·1 min read

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What is Two Texas Presidents and what real estate and operating businesses is it targeting?

Dallas C. Salazar has announced the formation of Two Texas Presidents, an Austin-based family office capitalized by the Salazar family's natural-gas holdings in the Haynesville, Utica and Marcellus. Over the next five years, the office will deploy family capital into convenience retail, fuel retail, fuel distribution and the real estate beneath that infrastructure. E.F. Hutton serves as financial advisor.

Key facts

Dallas C. Salazar announced the formation of Two Texas Presidents, an Austin-based family office, on October 13, 2026, according to a FinanceWire release.
Two Texas Presidents is capitalized by the Salazar family's natural-gas portfolio, with the Haynesville interests described as the leading financial engine, according to the announcement.
Two Texas Presidents does not raise or invest third-party capital, allowing it to pursue operating businesses and real assets free of fundraising cycles and exit timetables, according to the announcement.
Salazar's involvement with Comstock Resources was documented by Reuters during the company's $1.1 billion acquisition of Covey Park in 2019, a deal that made the combined company the Haynesville's largest operator at the time.
Two Texas Presidents has already provided strategic capital in the acquisition of Dart Transit Group, a transportation and logistics business whose history dates to 1934, according to the announcement.
E.F. Hutton serves as financial advisor to Two Texas Presidents, which also maintains a relationship with Goldman Sachs & Co., according to the announcement.

Natural-Gas Family Office Targets Convenience Retail and Fuel Distribution — Image: editorial illustration · Story sourced from markets.businessinsider.com

Dallas C. Salazar announced the formation of Two Texas Presidents, a family office built on the Salazar family's natural-gas holdings and focused on operating businesses and long-duration hard assets. The Austin-based office is capitalized by the family's portfolio in the Haynesville, Utica and Marcellus basins, with the Haynesville interests serving as the primary financial engine.

Unlike a private-equity fund, Two Texas Presidents does not raise or invest third-party capital. That structure allows the family to pursue operating businesses and real assets over a longer horizon, free of fundraising cycles and exit timetables, Salazar said.

Salazar's involvement in the Haynesville predates the new family office. Reuters documented his role with Comstock Resources during the company's $1.1 billion acquisition of Covey Park in 2019, a deal that made the combined company the Haynesville's largest operator at the time.

The family office has already extended investment activity beyond hydrocarbons. It provided strategic capital in the acquisition of Dart Transit Group, a transportation and logistics business founded in 1934.

Salazar said his focus over the next five years will center on the consumer end of the energy economy. That includes convenience retail, fuel retail, fuel distribution and the land underneath that infrastructure, he said.

"My focus over the next five years is increasingly going to be downstream, particularly around convenience retail, fuel retail, fuel distribution and the land underneath that infrastructure. We're interested in owning both the operating businesses and the real estate that supports them. I think there's a particularly compelling opportunity at the intersection of fuel, convenience and strategically located real estate, and that's where I expect to spend a significant amount of my time and where we're prepared to put substantial family capital to work," Salazar said.

The hydrocarbon portfolio remains central to the strategy, evolving from a source of returns into the capital base for what comes next, Salazar said. E.F. Hutton serves as financial advisor to Two Texas Presidents, which also maintains a relationship with Goldman Sachs.

The Deployment Angle

Family Office Real Estate Daily Desk · our analysis, not the source's

The model here is dual ownership: the operating business and the real estate beneath it. A family office considering convenience or fuel retail should evaluate whether the operator will sell the land separately or only as a package. If the land comes with the business, underwrite both the EBITDA multiple on operations and the land basis per square foot or per door. A typical convenience store sits on half an acre to two acres; in a high-traffic corridor that dirt alone can justify a meaningful portion of the purchase price.

Salazar's five-year window suggests patient capital, not a flip. That timeline favours a co-GP or direct-ownership structure over an LP commitment to a fund with a seven-to-ten-year life. A family office that wants control over lease renewals, fuel-supply contracts and site redevelopment should consider partnering with a regional operator on a programmatic basis—two to five sites at a time—rather than writing a single large cheque into someone else's portfolio company.

The upstream-to-downstream shift also implies a different risk profile. Natural-gas reserves throw off cash with commodity exposure; convenience retail and fuel distribution trade commodity exposure for operational complexity—labour, inventory turns, fuel-margin compression, site-level capex. A principal evaluating a similar pivot should pressure-test whether the family office has the bench strength to oversee multi-site operations or whether it will rely entirely on third-party management. If the latter, the management fee and promote structure become the central negotiation.

Questions this story answers

01What is Two Texas Presidents and who is behind it?

Two Texas Presidents is the Austin-based family office of Dallas C. Salazar and the Salazar family. Dallas C. Salazar serves as managing member. The office is capitalized by the Salazar family's natural-gas portfolio and invests family capital into operating businesses and long-duration real assets. It does not manage third-party capital.

02What real estate strategy is Two Texas Presidents pursuing?

Dallas C. Salazar said his focus over the next five years is downstream, particularly around convenience retail, fuel retail, fuel distribution and the land underneath that infrastructure. Two Texas Presidents intends to own both the operating businesses and the real estate that supports them, with substantial family capital directed toward that intersection.

03What natural-gas assets are backing Two Texas Presidents?

Two Texas Presidents is capitalized by the Salazar family's exposure to the Haynesville, Utica and Marcellus natural-gas plays, with the Haynesville interests described as the leading component. Salazar has also reported large, multi-billion dollar exits in Comstock Resources, Eclipse Resources and Southwestern Energy, according to the announcement.

04Has Two Texas Presidents made any investments outside real estate and energy?

Two Texas Presidents has already provided strategic capital in the acquisition of Dart Transit Group, a transportation and logistics business whose history dates to 1934, according to the announcement. That investment extends the Salazar family's activity beyond hydrocarbons.

05Who are the financial advisors to Two Texas Presidents?

E.F. Hutton serves as financial advisor to Two Texas Presidents, according to the announcement. Two Texas Presidents also maintains a relationship with Goldman Sachs & Co., according to the same source.

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