The New Hot Asset Class
Commercial Observer
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A convergence of trends — especially the boom in e-commerce — has driven truck terminals to the forefront of alternative asset classes in commercial real estate. Read about what the major players are looking for and trying to avoid. Also for today: Staying in the industrial outdoor storage (IOS) lane, a profile of Justin Horowitz, an early lender in IOS.
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— Tom Acitelli, Deputy Editor
Truck Terminals: Why Institutional Investors Are Pulling in More
Truck terminals, and the wider industrial outdoor storage (IOS) sector, remain perhaps the rare asset class that is both extremely unsexy — in many cases, mostly and merely asphalt — but also sought after, supply constrained, and scouted out by institutional buyers. “There has been an institutional recognition that the space offers strong dynamics, from both the cash-flow perspective as well as the idea that these are kind of an irreplaceable asset within the industrial markets,” said Ben Atkins, CEO and co-founder of Brooklyn-based Zenith IOS, a vertically integrated company in the industrial outdoor storage space. “It’s our belief that we’re going to continue to see this trend in 2025.” At a time when so many supposed sure bets seem wobbly at best — overbuilt multifamily and life sciences, and don’t even bring up non-trophy office space — IOS offers a solid investment opportunity that institutional players have started to seize.
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As IOS Becomes Increasingly Institutionalized, Justin Horowitz Has You Covered
Plenty of trends that gained momentum during the pandemic have since fallen squarely by the wayside: zany Zoom backgrounds, sourdough starters, Tiger King. Contrarily, some of the newer asset types that piqued investors’ attention through that period have not merely survived it, but are more in demand today than they’ve ever been. Take industrial outdoor storage (IOS) — land zoned for industrial use and typically utilized to store equipment, trucks or building materials. Colloquially, it’s where trucks go to sleep at night. IOS is a subset of the industrial sector, a longtime darling of the investment and financing world. As such, IOS carries much of the virtues of its parent, but less of its flash — perhaps until now.
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