Patrick Wade

Los Angeles and Orange County are among the top investment markets for net lease assets, according to a recent report from CBRE. Los Angeles ranked fourth in the survey with $3.3 billion invested in 2018, and increase of 38% over the previous year, while Orange County ranked 13^th in 2018 with $1.7 billion invested last year.

“The net lease retail markets in Los Angeles and Orange County are some of the strongest in the country due several factors, including dense populations, very high barriers to entry, strong incomes and solid job growth as well as good consumer spending,” Patrick Wade, SVP at CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com. “Additionally, drive-through businesses do especially well due to the population density and high traffic in these areas. There are challenges in getting new drive through permits approved in these markets, which makes existing ones incredibly valuable and creates barriers to competition.”

The report measured all net lease assets, office, industrial and retail properties, but quick service restaurants are the most popular net lease investments in the region. “The most popular net lease asset classes in the retail segment are quick service restaurants drive throughs, coffee drive throughs, grocery stores, and increasingly fitness outfits,” says Wade.