If you wreck your car, there’s a higher-than-average chance you’ll have it repaired at a so-called collision center.
It’s a growing multibillion-dollar industry that has become ripe for real estate investors seeking alternative safe havens that offer the potential for steady cash flow and a nice return.
“People love them because they are completely internet proof,” said Kevin Mansour, managing partner for the Mansour Group in San Diego, a Marcus & Millichap real estate services firm specializing in single-tenant retail and shopping center properties.
These properties fall into the nontraditional net-lease category since they aren't quick-service restaurant properties, dollar stores or pharmacies, which tend to be more popular investments.
With net leases, the landlord pays little to no operating expenses on the property. In return, they get an annual return on investment, known as the capitalization, or cap, rate.
Caliber Collision and Service King, both Dallas-Fort Worth-area based companies owned by major private equity firms, lead the auto body industry. Caliber Collision is the bigger of the two, with more than 1,100 locations in 37 states. Service King has 344 locations in 24 states.
