Sale‑Leaseback Momentum
The U.S. sale‑leaseback market rebounded sharply in 2025 as M&A returned and corporates sought capital flexibility, creating fresh opportunities for landlords to structure SLBs for tenants reported. That trend increases the pool of potential owner‑operators willing to monetize real estate while retaining operational control.
Fourth‑quarter sale‑leaseback dollar volume surged roughly 56% to $4.7 billion, driven by the return of larger transactions, SLB Capital Advisors’ Scott Merkle said in the firm’s 2025 market release. prnewswire.com In Southern California, UPS executed a sale‑leaseback of the 765,456‑SF Wineville Center Pointe S in Jurupa Valley when Fortress Investment Group bought the asset in August 2025. nmrk.imgix.net JLL also arranged a sale‑leaseback and $49M financing tied to Amway’s South Campus in Buena Park announced March 21, 2025. bisnow.com Institutional buyers remained active: Gladstone Commercial acquired TI Automotive’s 693,236‑SF industrial portfolio via a JLL‑handled sale‑leaseback announced Oct. 8, 2025, while Brookfield’s 2020 purchase of a Kohl’s SoCal distribution center — still under a long‑dated lease — surfaced in late‑2025 trading as evidence of REIT appetite. jll.com Deal lawyers and advisers note specific structuring trends entering 2026: lease documents increasingly lock longer initial terms and renewal schedules, and practitioners list negotiated items such as rent escalations, renewal options, and conditional termination of guaranties as standard bargaining points. lexology.com Tenant counsel continues to push for liberal assignment clauses and conditional guaranty releases to preserve corporate flexibility, according to Federman Steifman’s client playbook. federmansteifman.com
