Industrial Outdoor Storage (IOS)
Industrial outdoor storage is a specialized industrial real estate category — paved or stabilized yards with light structures, used for container storage, trailer parking, equipment yards, or material staging.
What it means
IOS has emerged as a distinct institutional asset class in the last decade. Unlike traditional warehouse, IOS is primarily open yard — fenced, lit, and paved — with limited structures. Tenants are trucking companies, container depots, construction companies, and logistics staging operations.
IOS is supply-constrained in infill markets because industrial zoning is tightening in many metros. Cap rates have compressed as institutional capital has recognized the category, though IOS remains meaningfully wider than warehouse cap rates.