CALABASAS, CA—Dollar Tree's announcement last week that it would divest some 330 stores by order of the Federal Trade Commission underscores the fact that its pending merger with Family Dollar is on track to close this summer. This removes a great deal of the uncertainty surrounding the discount retail segment, says Marcus & Millichap, which predicts that accordingly, “investors will be active in this segment again this year.”

Dollar stores aren't the only segment of net leased retail that MMI sees generating interest in 2015. Among the most prolific brokerage firms in the 1031 exchange market, MMI has headlined its second-quarter  report on single-tenant properties “Net Leased Assets Sought After by Exchange Buyers.” In the auto-parts segment, for instance, MMI predicts plenty of investment activity “as exchange capital moves from the coasts into Middle America.”

More broadly, MMI's National Retail Group, headed by VP and national director Bill Rose, who also heads the firm's Net-Leased Properties Group, cites the potential rise in interest rates as the most pressing subject for single-tenant, net-leased investors this year. “Against the prospect of an inevitable rise in interest rates, investors remain highly motivated to purchase retail assets and debt providers continue to compete for market share while also maintaining underwriting discipline,” the report states.

In the meantime, “plenty of capital remains in the market and listings featuring new construction are capturing overwhelming attention from investors,” according to the MMI report. ”In fact, the temporary absence of one of the largest single-tenant REITs in the market has done little to slow deal flow in the net-leased sector. Buyers are targeting assets as long-term capital preservation and income-producing investments.”

A seven-year freeze on the federal funds rate has shifted buyers' expectations for yield, and cap rates have sunk to an all-time low across multiple single-tenant sectors, MMI says. In the dollar-store segment, for example, cap rates compressed by 60 basis points during the most recent 12-month period. Here as elsewhere, though, cap rates vary by brand: they're lower for Family Dollar and Dollar General locations with new leases—averaging in the low 6% range—while Dollar Tree sites tend to trade at 75 bps higher.

For auto-part retailers, MMI says cap rates have tightened by an average of 50 bps year over year. New AutoZone stores begin at cap rates in the mid-5% range, while Advanced Auto Parts trades at close to 6% and Pep Boys 50 bps above that.

Drugstores similarly see divergence by brand when it comes to cap rates. Newly built Walgreens and CVS stores are in the low- to mid-5% range, while first-year returns on Rite Aid locations run from 6% to 6.5%.

In the net-leased restaurant segment, cap rates have dropped 40 bps Y-O-Y for casual dining establishments, ranging from the low 5% bracket to low 6%. Lowest of the low are quick-service restaurants, where MMI reports a range of 4% to 5% for properties with full-term leases, a range that hasn't seen any upward or downward movement over the past 12 months. MMI says McDonald's ground leases typically trade at first-year returns close to 4%. No interest-rate action by the Federal Reserve is expected until September, which will keep cap rates at their present low levels in the near term.