The beginning of a new year is always a good time to take stock of the past and ponder what might be in store in the future. In that spirit, TIC Monthly asked a number of TIC market participants to review the market's highlights in 2006 and forecast trends and developments for 2007.

The nearly $1.28-billion securitization of 340 CVS Corp. drugstore properties closed on Dec. 11, 2006, according to information from Moody's Investors Service. The $1.3-billion sale-leaseback of assets, either owned or ground leased that resulted in the 144A securities offering, is believed to be the largest retail sale-leaseback in US history.

The gains being made may not be as big as they were earlier in the year, but the fourth quarter saw yet again a larger market of net lease properties available for sale. That fact is among the findings in the Q4 2006 Net Lease Market Report from Northbrook, IL-based Boulder Net Lease Funds LLC.

The National Association of Realtors has sent a letter to state Realtors association execs encouraging them to get more involved in "educating" state real estate regulators about TIC transactions. While NAR does not state it will be proactive in encouraging licensing law enforcement actions of TIC interests, industry participants agree one should read between the lines.

The retail team at Fitch Ratings Inc. predicts continued merger and acquisition, leveraged buyout and real estate sales and strategy activity in 2007, all in what it describes as a challenging operating environment for retailers. That could be good news for sale-leaseback and net lease investors, a number of whom have been the buy-side beneficiaries of corporate deal-driven real estate transactions.

The growth of some net lease REITs has been constrained not by their access to capital or availability of transactions, but from what they describe as their risk-reward tolerance and discipline. While transaction volumes were down during the third quarter this year, they expect a more active pipeline in the future.

Political outreach on Capitol Hill is a key focus for the Tenant-in-Common Association, a fact made clear at the association's annual conference in Las Vegas last month. Being proactive in Washington, DC--where TICA's next symposium will be held in March--is what the association is aiming to do to avoid another threat to the industry like the one it saw this past spring in the Senate Finance Committee.

In a deal that will mean one less net lease REIT for the public stock market but will boost the assets of its private acquirer from about $500 million to $3.5 billion, GE Capital Solutions has agreed to buy Trustreet Properties Inc.