# Essential Properties Realty Trust Essential Properties Realty Trust is an Asset Manager based in Princeton, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Asset Manager - **Headquarters:** Princeton, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Princeton, NJ, United States - **Founded:** 2016 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** essentialproperties.com ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About Pete Mavoides launched Essential Properties Realty Trust in 2016 and took it public in 2018, structuring the firm as an internally managed REIT from day one — no external advisory fees bleeding shareholder returns. The wealth origin here is institutional, not familial: the founding team seeded the vehicle with a portfolio of net-lease properties and built it into a ~$5 billion enterprise. Mavoides himself came up through the net-lease sector at Spirit Realty Capital, where he was Chief Operating Officer before starting Essential, giving him an operator's understanding of how tenant credit risk degrades when a portfolio gets too comfortable with a single brand's balance sheet. The strategy runs on a simple rule: buy single-tenant properties in industries essential to the tenant's day-to-day operations — quick-service restaurants, car washes, medical services, automotive repair, and early-childhood education — and lock tenants into 15-year triple-net leases with contractual rent escalators. Every lease puts the tenant on the hook for property-level costs, so Essential collects rent that drops almost entirely to the bottom line. Confirmed property types include seven First Watch restaurant locations, 30 Mister Car Wash sites, and several Caliber Collision centers. The portfolio spans all 48 contiguous US states, with no single tenant representing more than roughly 4% of total rent — a structural hedge against the casual-dining bankruptcies that have bruised peers in the net-lease space. The team operates out of a single office in Princeton, New Jersey. As of 2024, the firm reported owning roughly 1,900 properties across 16 industries, serviced by a lean team of deal-makers and portfolio managers who source acquisitions through direct relationships with regional operators and franchisees — no broker-heavy pipeline. In May 2024, the firm raised its quarterly cash dividend for the sixth consecutive year to $0.29 per share (per the firm's official communications). What separates Essential from larger net-lease REITs is its tenant-credit process. The firm internalizes a credit committee that reviews every tenant's unit-level financials — not just the corporate parent's — because Mavoides believes unit economics drive rent decisions faster than brand-level balance sheets. This bottoms-up underwriting lets the firm acquire properties occupied by franchisees of national brands without taking the brand-concentration risk a firm like Realty Income absorbs. The resulting portfolio looks less like a proxy bet on investment-grade corporate credit and more like a granular collection of small-business locations where the landlord actually knows the operator's P&L. ## Sectors - Real Estate ## People - Pete Mavoides — President and Chief Executive Officer - Mark E. Patten — Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer ## Questions ### How is Essential Properties different from Realty Income or Spirit Realty? Essential runs a deliberately granular portfolio with roughly 1,900 properties and a top-ten tenant concentration below 16% of rent, whereas Realty Income concentrates more rent in larger, investment-grade tenants. The bigger structural difference is underwriting: Essential's credit committee reviews individual franchisee unit economics rather than relying on corporate parent credit ratings, which means the firm accepts more operator-level risk in exchange for higher cap rates and avoids the single-brand blow-ups that have hit peers when large tenants file for bankruptcy. ### What is a triple-net lease, and why does Essential use it? A triple-net lease requires the tenant to pay property taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs in addition to rent. For Essential, this structure means the rent it collects carries almost no property-level operating expenses — the tenant bears the cost of roof repairs, parking lot resurfacing, and insurance premiums — so the income stream converts into free cash flow at a very high rate and the firm needs minimal property-management staff. ### Who makes investment decisions at Essential Properties Realty Trust? Pete Mavoides, the CEO and founder, leads the investment process alongside an internal credit committee that evaluates every acquisition. The firm operates as an internally managed REIT, meaning there is no external advisor or management fee structure — the investment team are direct employees of Essential, and their compensation aligns with the REIT's total shareholder return rather than asset-gathering incentives. ### What is the firm's known posture on dispositions? Essential actively manages the portfolio and will sell properties when a tenant's credit profile deteriorates or when a location no longer meets the firm's underwriting standard. The disposition process is handled by the same internal team that sources acquisitions, which gives the firm visibility into the resale market and helps them recycle capital into higher-yielding transactions without relying on a separate asset-management division. ## Related profiles - [Brookfield Business Corp](https://altss.com/profile/brookfield-business-corp) - [JBT Marel Corp](https://altss.com/profile/jbt-marel-corp) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/essential-properties-realty-trust-inc Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology