Anthony Cohen of Northmarq, a Managing Director in the commercial investment sales office in Los Angeles for 34 years and co-head of the firm’s national net lease and sale-leaseback group, already boasts an impressive career. In just six years in the commercial real estate sector, starting in 2020 at Ascension, Cohen has been involved in transactions with a cumulative volume exceeding USD 1 billion. His financial background, including a two-year stint at J.P. Morgan after university, predisposes him to advising companies on their real estate matters.
Cohen, who leads a team of five producers at Northmarq, highlights that the most sought-after investments currently are those that provide tax advantages to buyers. These include properties eligible for accelerated depreciation, such as petrol stations, car washes, or oil change facilities. He states that these represent the 'most interesting and sought-after assets' in the current market.
His professional journey began after studying finance at Penn State as a financial analyst at J.P. Morgan. Although this position garnered recognition, Cohen sought a field with greater growth potential. This led him to a start-up in New York City specialising in distressed, real estate-backed debt. In this role, the team acquired non-performing loans by contacting local and regional banks, brokered them to debt funds and buyers, and achieved an intermediation volume of approximately USD 70 million within two years. This experience, supplemented by the recapitalisation of a building, marked his entry into the real estate industry.
Afterward, Cohen moved to a boutique firm specialising in net lease transactions, where he found a role that ideally combined his financial and real estate experience: brokering sale-leaseback deals, often in the context of M&A transactions. He obtained his broker’s licence at the end of 2019.
Cohen illustrates the application of sale-leaseback structures using the example of a food manufacturer in Pennsylvania. This company required investments of nearly USD 30 million to expand its production capacity. The manufacturer acquired the building for USD 13 million and simultaneously sold it to an investor for USD 28.5 million, coupled with a 20-year lease agreement. The proceeds of USD 14 to 15 million thus generated enabled the company to significantly reduce the equity component for the necessary capital investments after closing. This represented a strategic use of the property that had not previously been accessible to the company.
Another active sector is the petrol station industry. Northmarq works with both general C-store petrol stations and large travel centres. One client, who operates around 100 travel centres in the USA, managed to increase its turnover from under USD 1 billion to an anticipated USD 2.7 billion within 14 to 15 months. Northmarq has handled sale-leaseback transactions worth approximately USD 200 million across various states for this client to support its growth. This sector is particularly attractive to real estate professionals and passive income earners due to the possibility of accelerated depreciation.
- —Petrol stations (including C-stores)
- —Large travel centres
- —Car washes
- —Oil change facilities
