Permanent bonus depreciation has turned the humble gas‑and‑go into one of the busiest corners of the net lease market, with a sharp rise in available supply and a subtle but meaningful reset in pricing, according to a new report by B+E. The report, which draws on B+E's proprietary 1031 trade database, shows investors now facing a much deeper pipeline of convenience stores with fuel, longer remaining terms and increasingly distinct pricing by brand, location and fuel exposure.
Supply jumps as tax policy resets
Available C‑store inventory climbed 27% between July and year‑end, from 302 properties to 384, a shift B+E links directly to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's reinstatement of permanent 100% bonus depreciation for qualifying assets placed in service after January 19, 2025.
Compared with year‑end 2024, inventory is up 24% from 310 properties, underscoring how quickly tax policy has translated into sale‑leaseback and disposition activity. Average cap rates moved only modestly over the same period, rising five bps since July to 5.62% and 12 bps year‑over‑year from 5.50%, suggesting sellers have been willing to meet the market even as more product comes online.
The B+E report notes that the bonus depreciation change has expanded the toolkit for both operators and investors, allowing convenience stores with fuel to immediately expense the full cost of qualifying assets and freeing up cash for reinvestment.
That, in turn, appears to be encouraging operators to monetize more real estate while upgrading equipment, modernizing stores and funding expansion, particularly as they reposition for a future less tied to gasoline sales.
Longer leases, clear premium for fuel
Despite the jump in supply, most of what is coming to market is not short‑dated. Of the 384 C‑stores B+E tracked at year‑end, 257—roughly 67%—carry at least 10 years of remaining lease term and those longer‑duration assets are pricing at a 5.50% average cap rate versus the overall 5.62%. On a typical deal, B+E pegs the all‑in average price at $4.78 million, supported by average NOI of $262,931 and rent of $70.44 per square foot across a roughly 4,049‑square‑foot box.
Fuel continues to matter for pricing. Properties with gas account for 373 of the 384 listings and trade at a 5.58% average cap rate, while the 11 non‑fuel deals in the sample carry an average cap of 6.87%, more than 100 bps higher.
Yet those non‑fuel assets are not distressed; they show a slightly higher average price of $4.85 million and a larger average footprint of 5,419 square feet, backed by an average NOI of $335,795 and rent of $67.65 per square foot. For assets with 10 years or more on the lease, the cap rate spread widens further: 5.46% for fuel sites versus 7.17% for non‑fuel, with the latter averaging $6.26 million in price and 17.7 years of term.
The B+E findings arrive as the National Association of Convenience Stores reports a 5.7% drop in fuel revenues in 2024 to $501.9 billion, driven largely by a 6.5% decline in average gas prices, even though C‑stores still account for roughly 80% of fuel purchases nationwide.
NACS is urging operators to lean harder into food service, car washes and cost‑control measures to offset fuel‑related volatility, a pivot that is already showing up in store formats and corporate strategies and that investors must now underwrite more explicitly.
7‑Eleven drives volume as Wawa sets the pricing bar
On the tenant side, 7‑Eleven remains the dominant story in the B+E dataset, both in terms of volume and in how its credit dynamics are feeding through to pricing. The operator accounts for 169 of the 384 C‑stores on the market—44% of total inventory—after a 42% increase in listings since July 2025, and its average cap rate has ticked up 10 bps over that span to 5.36%. B+E attributes the move to a recent S&P downgrade of parent Seven & i Holdings Co. to A‑ and to the collapse of a proposed sale to Alimentation Couche‑Tard.
Even with that softening, 7‑Eleven remains a core net lease name. The average 7‑Eleven listing is a 3,895‑square‑foot store priced at $5.66 million or $1,457 per square foot, supported by NOI of $298,175 and rent of $76.70 per square foot. Remaining term averages 10.6 years across the full sample, but 64% of available stores—108 properties—have at least 10 years left and that cohort trades at a tighter 5.24% cap, an average price of $6.60 million and a 12.4‑year average term.
B+E notes that Seven & i is simultaneously rolling out its "Transformation of 7‑Eleven" plan, targeting more than 1,300 large‑format, food‑focused stores in the U.S. by 2030 and exploring a spin‑off and IPO of its North American unit in the back half of 2026—moves that could influence future sale‑leaseback volume and investor perception of the credit.
If 7‑Eleven anchors the volume story, Wawa sets the pricing floor. B+E's report shows Wawa, rated BBB by Fitch, has the lowest average cap rate in the sector at 4.83%, with 39 properties on the market and all offering more than 10 years of remaining term.
The typical Wawa in the sample is a 5,770‑square‑foot store priced at $5.66 million—roughly $989 per square foot—with NOI of $270,930, rent of $47.37 per square foot and an 18.7‑year remaining lease term. The company is leaning into growth, having opened 70 new stores in 2025 and mapping a path to 1,800 locations nationwide by 2030, including new market entries last year in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.
Circle K and other fuel‑oriented chains are also actively shaping the net lease landscape, according to the B+E report. Circle K, backed by BBB+‑rated Alimentation Couche‑Tard, has 42 stores on the market at an average cap rate of 5.60%, with an average price of $3.18 million for a 4,315‑square‑foot box—about $769 per square foot and a NOI of $176,835.
The remaining term averages 9.8 years across the sample, with 23 locations offering more than 10 years and pricing tighter at a 5.07% cap, a $3.50 million average price and 14.6 years of term. Couche‑Tard is simultaneously pruning its corporate portfolio, with plans to divest 36 Circle K sites across 14 states, which includes 16 leased and 20 owned, under a portfolio optimization strategy that could feed additional inventory to the market.
Markets, operators and the next phase of the trade
Geographically, B+E's data show the C‑store net-lease market tilting toward high‑growth and Sun Belt states, but with notable cap rate dispersion across states.
Texas leads with 73 properties on the market at an average cap rate of 5.63%, followed closely by Florida with 67 listings at a 5.11% average cap and California and North Carolina with 23 each at 5.32% and 5.72%, respectively.
Midwestern and secondary markets often trade wider: Illinois and Ohio each have 16 assets on the market at 6.28% and 6% caps, while Wisconsin's six listings are at 7.12% and Nebraska's lone property is at 7.40%. At the other end, Washington, New York and Kentucky each show average cap rates of 5%, reflecting stronger pricing in select coastal and regional markets.
Beyond the marquee brands, B+E's report catalogs a widening cast of credit tenants drawing net lease capital into the C‑store and small‑format fuel space. GPM, part of Fortune 500‑listed ARKO Corp., has 11 properties on the market at an average cap rate of 5.95%, an average price of $3.42 million and 11.6 years of remaining term, with all of those assets offering at least a decade of lease life.
Murphy USA, a Fortune 500 operator with approximately 1,700 locations, shows 12 assets on the market at a 5.13% average cap rate, average pricing of $3.39 million and a comparatively long 19.2‑year remaining term, consistent with its typical 20‑year NNN ground lease structure and 8% rent bumps set to kick in every five years.
Speedway, now under the 7‑Eleven umbrella, rounds out the sample with 11 listings at a 6.23% average cap and 6.3 years of remaining term, skewing shorter‑dated except for a small subset of 10‑plus‑year leases that price around a 5.13% cap and $4.88 million per property.
The B+E report situates these tenant‑level trends within a broader backdrop of consolidation and food service‑driven repositioning. Six C‑store operators—Murphy USA, Global Partners, Casey's, Par Pacific, ARKO Corp. and Delek US Holdings—now sit on the Fortune 500, underlining the revenue scale behind many net lease credits in the sector.
RaceTrac, ranked 17th on CSP's 2025 Top 202 Convenience Store Chains list, has integrated all stores into Core‑Mark's distribution network and executed a $566 million acquisition of fast‑casual chain Potbelly, bringing 445 restaurant locations and more than 5,200 employees and franchise partners under its umbrella as it targets 2,000 C‑stores nationwide.
Store formats are evolving in parallel. For example, QuikTrip is preparing to test a new 6,400‑square‑foot fourth‑generation prototype in Missouri featuring a glass vestibule, expanded storefront windows and a larger kitchen, while also opening its first travel center in Indiana. Wawa's expansion into new Midwestern states, 7‑Eleven's push into larger food‑centric formats and RaceTrac's restaurant acquisition all speak to the same directional bet that future performance, including net lease pricing—will depend increasingly on non‑fuel revenue streams.
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