How to Build a Portfolio of Triple Net Assets Without Being a Billionaire

On Accredited Investors Only, host Peter Neill sits down with Pam Goodwin, founder of Goodwin Commercial, to talk about one of the most attractive corners of commercial real estate: single-tenant triple net assets.

Goodwin has spent more than 35 years in and around commercial real estate, with a career that spans tenant development, leasing, land acquisition, redevelopment, and ground-up dealmaking. After helping develop more than 50 Chili’s locations while working on the tenant side, she saw a pattern that changed her entire career. The operators were busy building stores, but the landlords under those long-term ground leases were building wealth.

That realization led her to launch Goodwin Commercial in 2006. Since then, she has focused on finding land, repositioning buildings, working with national tenants, and creating long-term value through net lease development.

Her approach is practical, relationship-driven, and surprisingly accessible for investors who assume triple net real estate is only for institutions or billionaires. It is not. But it does require patience, discipline, and a sharp understanding of location, tenant quality, and risk.

Why Triple Net Assets Are So Attractive

A quality triple net lease property can be one of the cleanest forms of real estate ownership. In many cases, there is one tenant, one lease, and a predictable income stream. The tenant typically covers taxes, insurance, and maintenance, which makes the asset far more passive than many other property types.

That is why so many investors are drawn to properties leased to names like McDonald’s, Starbucks, Walgreens, Chick-fil-A, banks, convenience stores, and other nationally recognized brands.

When the location is strong and the tenant is stable, these assets can hold value for decades. That combination of durable income and relatively low management burden is hard to beat.

Goodwin’s view is simple: if she could go back in time, she would have held on to more of the properties she sold. In her experience, quality net lease real estate can become an extraordinary long-term hold, especially when passed down across generations.

How Pam Goodwin Got Into the Business

Goodwin did not begin with a plan to become a net lease developer. She studied interior design at the University of Nebraska and originally envisioned a career in hospitality design. Instead, she ended up in large shopping center development and tenant construction, then leasing, and eventually restaurant development.

Her time with Brinker International was a turning point. Developing restaurant sites taught her how national tenants think, what they need from a site, and how much value is created when a location gets approved, built, and leased.

What stood out most was not just the tenant’s business. It was the landlord economics behind the site. Once she saw how much income those landowners were generating on long-term leases, she wanted to understand that side of the table.

She found a mentor, started her own company, and built her business around single-tenant net lease development.

What Goodwin Commercial Focuses on Today

Goodwin Commercial primarily works in a few lanes:

• Buying land and developing for national tenants
• Acquiring existing buildings and redeveloping them
• Securing ground leases with tenants who build their own improvements
• Finding underused sites and repositioning them for stronger future rent

Some deals start with raw land. Others start with a vacant bank building, an obsolete retail property, or a corner parcel that has simply been overlooked for years.

Her team also works with cities and economic development officials, especially in smaller communities that want help attracting new tenants. Many people do not realize how often municipalities control commercial land or influence who comes into town. For a developer with strong relationships, that can create real opportunity.

The Appeal of Smaller Markets

One of Goodwin’s favorite parts of the business is bringing new restaurant and retail concepts into smaller towns.

That started years ago when she was helping develop Chili’s locations in communities that had plenty of fast food but no true sit-down restaurant options. In those towns, a new concept could become a major event. Local officials were eager to support quality development because they understood what it would mean for the community.

That still motivates her today. While plenty of investors chase the most crowded major markets, there is real satisfaction and real business value in helping a growing community land a tenant it has never had before.

What a Preferred Developer Relationship Actually Means

One term that comes up often in this space is preferred developer. For investors who are new to commercial development, that relationship is worth understanding.

When a national retailer or restaurant chain wants to open many new locations, it often relies on outside developers it trusts. These developers know the tenant’s site criteria, prototype requirements, brand standards, timelines, and approval process.

In a typical build-to-suit arrangement, the developer:

• Finds the land
• Gets the site approved
• Develops the building to the tenant’s specifications
• Turns over the completed property to the tenant under a long-term lease

Goodwin previously worked on Walgreens deals under this kind of model. The appeal for the tenant is speed and certainty. They do not have to build everything themselves. They can rely on a local partner who understands exactly what is required.

For the developer, the upside is substantial if the project is executed correctly.

Where the Process Usually Begins: Find the Dirt

In this business, the starting point is often the land.

Goodwin’s strategy is to identify strong sites first, especially hard corners, infill lots, parcels near dominant national brands, and buildings in excellent locations that can be repurposed. In many cases, the current structure matters less than the real estate underneath it.

Sometimes she already knows a tenant wants the site. Other times, she controls the property first because she knows the location is too good to ignore, and a tenant can be found later.

That distinction matters. If a developer already has a committed tenant, the deal can move with more confidence. If not, the site has to be strong enough to support the risk of carrying it while marketing it to prospective users.

Everything Is for Sale, Eventually

One of Goodwin’s most useful principles is that nearly every property can be bought at some point. The challenge is timing and price.

She described working on one property for years before finally getting it under contract. It took persistence, consistent follow-up, and confidence in the location. Once she secured it, the site drew interest from multiple national tenants and ultimately worked out as a Mattress Firm deal.

That kind of patience is a competitive advantage. Many people in commercial real estate stop after one call or one rejected offer. Developers who stay close to the right sites over a long period often get rewarded.

Redevelopment and Value-Add Opportunities

Not every great deal involves a vacant piece of land. Some of the best opportunities come from buying an existing property with a below-market tenant or a tenant likely to vacate in the future.

This is where value-add thinking comes into play.

If an owner can acquire a property with low in-place rent, hold it through the lease term, and replace the existing occupant with a stronger tenant at a higher rent, the value of the property can increase dramatically.

That is one reason Goodwin likes redevelopment. It creates multiple ways to win:

• The current tenant may stay and continue paying
• The site may be re-tenanted at a higher rate
• The property may be repositioned entirely for a different use
• The land itself may be sold or ground leased to a new user

Her purchase of a former Regions Bank building in Birmingham is an example of this kind of thinking. The building was acquired with the intention of repositioning it, and it later went under contract to a credit union.

Why Ground Leases Make Sense Right Now

Although build-to-suit development can be highly profitable, Goodwin says the current environment has pushed her toward ground leases and land flips more often than full vertical development.

The reason is simple: construction costs are still difficult to predict.

When material costs, labor pricing, and build timelines shift significantly over six to twelve months, underwriting becomes much harder. A project that looks great on paper today can be squeezed badly by the time it is delivered.

That is why she currently prefers structures where the tenant builds the improvements or purchases the land directly.

Common structures include:

• Ground lease: the developer owns the land and leases it to the tenant, who constructs and operates the building
• Land sale: the developer ties up the site and sells it directly to a tenant who only buys rather than leases
• Redevelopment sale or lease-up: the developer repositions an existing property and exits once the right occupant is in place

The tradeoff is that when the tenant builds the structure, the landlord usually does not get the depreciation benefits associated with building ownership. But in Goodwin’s view, the reduced risk often outweighs that drawback in the current cycle.

The Buy and Hold Case for Triple Net Real Estate

Ask experienced operators what they regret selling, and quality net lease properties come up often.

Goodwin is no different. Looking back, she says many of the properties she sold would be ideal assets to still own today. The reason is straightforward. A strong triple net property can produce dependable income for years with relatively little hands-on involvement.

That is why these assets are so appealing not just for institutional investors, but for families and private investors focused on long-term wealth.

A well-located single-tenant property leased to a durable user can become a core holding. It can provide current cash flow, potential appreciation, and estate-planning flexibility all at once.

Why Tenant Credit and Cap Rates Matter So Much

One of the most important lessons in this business is that not all tenants are priced the same by the market.

Goodwin gave a simple example. Put one acre of land under a McDonald’s lease and one acre under a Dollar General lease, and the values may be wildly different even if the parcels are similar.

That difference comes down to cap rate, which reflects how the market prices the risk and desirability of the income stream.

A stronger tenant with deeper credit and a more highly sought-after lease profile tends to trade at a lower cap rate, which means a higher property value. A weaker or less favored tenant trades at a higher cap rate, which lowers the resale price.

Goodwin pointed to examples such as:

• McDonald’s trading at very aggressive cap rates
• Dollar General trading at materially higher cap rates

That spread can cut the value of a property by millions of dollars. For developers and investors, that means tenant selection is not just about rent. It is about exit value.

This also explains why investors constantly monitor cap rate movement. Even small shifts in market sentiment can materially change what a finished property is worth.

What Goodwin Looks for in a Tenant

Tenant quality is not only about brand recognition. It is also about the financial strength behind the lease and how the market views that lease as an investment product.

When evaluating a tenant, the questions include:

• Is the lease backed by a strong corporate entity or a franchisee?
• If it is a franchisee, how deep is their operating experience?
• How many units do they own?
• What is the property likely to trade for once leased?
• How has investor demand for that tenant changed recently?

The cap rate is often the most immediate market signal. A tenant may look recognizable, but if the market is demanding a much higher yield to own that income stream, that says something important about perceived risk.

Watching the News Is Part of the Job

Single-tenant investing is not passive during the acquisition and underwriting phase. It requires constant attention to what is happening with tenants and sectors.

Goodwin keeps a close eye on closures, expansion plans, credit deterioration, and broader industry trends. If she sees warning signs around a tenant, she alerts owners because timing matters. The best moment to sell a property is often before the market fully prices in the tenant’s problems.

Drugstores are a perfect example. Stores like Rite Aid, Walgreens, and CVS may still operate desirable locations, but the sector has gone through major shifts. An owner with one high-performing site in a strong trade area may still have a valuable asset, but it is critical to understand what is happening at the company level and in the surrounding market.

In other words, this is not a buy-it-and-ignore-it business. Good locations help, but tenant monitoring is part of the job.

Where Opportunity Is Showing Up Right Now

Even when one category struggles, another emerges.

Goodwin sees strong opportunity in entertainment, dining, and first-to-market concepts, particularly in and around the Dallas metro area. Large mixed-use developments and growing suburban corridors are attracting new users from across the country.

She mentioned examples like:

• Portillo’s entering the market from Chicago
• Rock & Brews expanding through franchise relationships
• PopStroke and other experiential concepts gaining traction
• Adventure and entertainment users taking large-format space

When migration shifts demographics, retail follows. New residents bring familiarity with brands from their previous markets, and those brands often want to follow the rooftops.

That creates opportunity for local developers who understand both the real estate and the tenant pipeline.

Creative Reuse Is Becoming a Bigger Part of the Business

Goodwin also emphasized how adaptive commercial real estate has become. When office buildings, department stores, or large retail boxes become underused, investors are finding creative second lives for them.

Examples she highlighted include:

• Office buildings converted into age-restricted housing
• Big box spaces repurposed for pickleball courts
• Vacant bank buildings repositioned for financial users or other service tenants

Retail and commercial real estate are often described as challenged sectors, but operators on the ground know something different. Good sites rarely stay irrelevant forever. They get recycled, rethought, and repurposed.

The investors who stay flexible tend to uncover the best opportunities.

Why 2024 Was Tough for Many Commercial Real Estate Operators

Goodwin’s view of the recent market is blunt: for many people in commercial real estate, 2024 was a difficult year.

The biggest issue was interest rates.

When borrowing costs are in the 7 percent to 8 percent range, it becomes much harder to make acquisitions pencil at cap rates that were set in a lower-rate environment. Deals that worked beautifully when debt was cheap suddenly lose their margin.

As a result, many of her recent transactions have involved cash buyers. Debt-funded acquisitions have become much less common in her world unless the buyer has a very specific reason for using leverage.

This has also pushed more investors into partnerships, pooled capital structures, and highly selective dealmaking.

Geography Matters More Than People Think

Goodwin is based in Dallas, and while she has worked in other places, she prefers to focus her development efforts in Texas.

That preference is not just about convenience. It is about knowing the local rules, entitlements, taxes, and development environment.

Her experience in Birmingham reinforced how much state and local differences can affect a deal. Taxes, lease-related assessments, permitting requirements, and property-specific rules vary more than many investors realize.

In development, those details can make or break a project.

That is why many seasoned developers stay close to markets where they understand:

• Zoning expectations
• Municipal approval processes
• Development-friendly jurisdictions
• Local broker and contractor relationships
• Tenant demand patterns

For Goodwin, that home-field advantage is strongest in Texas.

How Investors Can Get Involved Without Doing Everything Themselves

One of the most useful takeaways from Goodwin’s approach is that not everyone needs to become a full-scale developer to participate in these deals.

She regularly partners with people who bring her opportunities. That might include:

• Landowners with a well-located parcel
• Investors who spot a vacant building in a prime corridor
• Bird dogs who identify underutilized sites
• Local connectors who know which owners may be ready to sell

Her role is to handle the due diligence, structure, and execution. In those partnerships, she has offered participants a minimum 25 percent return on the deal, provided the property fits her criteria, and the numbers make sense.

That is an important point for newer investors. Sometimes, the most valuable thing you can bring is not capital. It is a deal flow.

What Makes a Property Worth Bringing to Her

Goodwin’s criteria are practical and heavily location-driven.

She is generally interested in:

• Retail-oriented sites
• One to five acre parcels
• Hard corners or strong in-line locations
• Vacant lots surrounded by national tenants
• Existing buildings in highly visible trade areas that can be redeveloped

A simple rule of thumb is to look around the established national brands in a market. If there is a vacant parcel, an obsolete building, or a site sitting between proven traffic generators, there may be an opportunity.

Often, the value is not in what the site is today. It is in what it could become.

Buying Existing Triple Net Properties Versus Developing Them

For investors deciding whether to buy a stabilized net lease asset or create one through development, Goodwin sees a clear distinction.

Buying an existing triple net property is often like purchasing at a retail price. The value has already been created. The tenant is in place, the lease is signed, and the market has likely priced the deal efficiently.

Developing or redeveloping the asset is closer to buying at wholesale. You are taking on more uncertainty, but that is where more upside can live.

Neither path is inherently better. It depends on the investor’s risk tolerance, skill set, and time horizon.

Some investors want immediate passive cash flow from a stabilized asset. Others want to create value through entitlement, leasing, tenanting, and redevelopment.

The real opportunity comes from understanding both sides and knowing when one is mispriced relative to the other.

What This Business Really Requires

Underneath all the tenant names, cap rates, and deal structures, Goodwin’s business comes down to a few core principles:

• Relationships matter
• Patience creates edge
• Location still rules
• Tenant quality drives value
• Risk has to be managed, not ignored

That combination is what allows someone to build a portfolio of triple-net assets without operating at an institutional scale. It is not easy, but it is not reserved for the ultra-wealthy either.

What it does require is the ability to spot opportunity before it becomes obvious, stay on top of changing market conditions, and work with the right people to bring a deal across the finish line.

Final Thoughts

Single-tenant net lease investing has a reputation for being simple, stable, and boring. In some ways, that is exactly the appeal. But creating those assets is anything but passive on the front end. It takes hustle, underwriting discipline, market knowledge, and long-term thinking.

Pam Goodwin’s career is a reminder that some of the best wealth-building opportunities in commercial real estate start with a simple insight: the value is often in controlling the land, understanding the tenant, and staying patient long enough to put the right deal together.

For investors who want durable income, lower management intensity, and the potential to own high-quality real estate for decades, triple net assets remain one of the most compelling plays in the market.

If that sounds like the kind of business worth learning, Goodwin teaches regularly, posts insights on LinkedIn, and shares more information through her website at pamgoodwin.com.