Industrial Outdoor Storage: Institutions Move In on an Asset Class

With a $189 million loan from Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Alterra Property Group acquired 49 industrial outdoor storage (IOS) properties in 22 states.

“That’s when the floodgates opened,” said Justin Horowitz, senior managing director at Cooper-Horowitz, which brokered the February 2025 transaction. It “was a clear indication of the market’s legitimacy for a broader array of institutional investors.”

IOS is typically used for garbage trucks, construction equipment, building materials and other such physical components. Data for valuing IOS portfolios is sparse, even as these assets are increasingly being eyed by institutional investors. The market is fragmented, mainly comprising individual proprietors of the typically four- to 10-acre properties. Alterra and Realterm are among the few that have been building significant IOS portfolios for more than a decade.

A 2021 joint venture between private equity firm Stockbridge and Industrial Outdoor Ventures – which has invested exclusively in IOS since its start in 2017 – was an early sign of institutional interest in the sector. The COVID period and the rise of massive distribution...