Christopher Constant, president and CEO of Getty Realty Corp . (NYSE: GTY), participated in a video interview during Nareit’s REITworld: 2023 Annual Conference held Nov. 14-16 in Los Angeles.
Constant said Getty has expanded its strategy to encompass convenience and automotive retail. In addition to buying convenience stores, where the company has invested for many years, Getty is also buying car wash and auto service assets, as well as drive throughs, which are primarily QSRs (quick service restaurants) at this point, he noted. Constant described the asset class as large, retail-oriented, and fragmented—“which drives opportunity for us.”
Getty’s strategy is to become “experts in our core markets,” to have direct relationships with its tenants, and to become a trusted source for financing, Constant said. “We really think we provide attractively priced capital to help our tenants continue to grow and finance their business over the long term, and in return Getty gets to add attractive new properties to our portfolio,” he added.
For 2024, the greatest potential for growth at Getty is to expand in the top 50 markets around the country. “Over the next three, four, five years, Getty expects to be a much larger and diversified portfolio,” Constant said.