Most People Think IOS Is a Land Play. They’re Missing the Real Story
Everyone talks about Industrial Outdoor Storage (IOS) like it’s a land play.
Zoning. Scarcity. Replacement cost.
But the real reason IOS works has nothing to do with the dirt.
It’s the tenants.
Five types of companies quietly rent IOS yards across the country.
None of them are flashy. None of them make headlines.
All of them keep paying rent.
1. Trucking and logistics operators
This is the backbone of IOS demand.
Trailer parking. Fleet staging. Last-mile distribution. Every truck moving goods needs somewhere to park between loads.
Freight has been soft the last few years, but the operational need never went away. As volumes recover, these yards fill quickly because trucks still need a place to live between runs.
2. Equipment rental companies
Boom lifts, excavators, generators, utility vehicles.
Rental companies need secure yards where equipment can sit between jobs and be serviced. Once they establish a location that works operationally, they rarely move.
3. Contractors, landscaping, and tree care companies
These operators run fleets of trucks, trailers, chippers, and equipment.
Contractors typically need secured yards with service bays where crews can maintain equipment between jobs. Landscaping and tree care operators often store materials like mulch and gravel along with their trucks and trailers.
Once a yard is integrated into daily operations, relocating becomes costly and disruptive—so these tenants tend to stay.
4. Government and utility crews
Municipal fleets. Utility maintenance teams. Public works yards.
Long leases. Credit tenants. Essential services. These users are among the most stable occupiers you can have in a yard.
5. Construction materials and light manufacturing
Lumber, pipe, precast concrete, rebar, fabricated materials.
These yards support construction and manufacturing activity in the surrounding market. With reshoring and tariffs pushing more domestic production, this category of IOS demand has been especially strong.
Why this mix matters
These sectors don’t move together.
- Trucking slows in a trade downturn
- Construction slows in a rate cycle
- Utilities and government keep spending regardless of the Fed
That diversification is what makes the asset class resilient.
If vacancy in a submarket is under ~3% and five other operators would take the yard tomorrow, single-tenant risk goes from scary to manageable. That’s the margin of safety we look for before signing an LOI.
Most people think IOS is just a parking lot.
In reality, it’s an essential-use platform supporting some of the most durable operators in the economy.
The tenants are unglamorous by design.
That’s exactly what I want.
We have a number of exciting deals in our pipeline, feel free to reach out directly if you would like to learn more about our upcoming opportunities.
