Yield Compression in an Absolute Sense

Marc Duval, managing director, JLL Capital Markets, tells GlobeSt.com that there has been significant compression of yields in an absolute sense and as a spread to industrial properties in total. 

"While the spread to industrial properties has narrowed from approximately 300 basis points two years ago to as low as 75 basis points today, we expect the spread to narrow even further with diminishing supply and evolving demand of uses," Duval said.

"The space has certainly institutionalized over the past three years with an increase in lease duration as well as improved credit of tenancy.

"We expect industrial outdoor storage properties to perform as well or better than industrial properties as a whole. It is the only diminishing asset class under the industrial umbrella but is still a vital component of the global supply chain.

"Ownership of the existing outdoor storage inventory is very fragmented allowing significant near-term and long-term aggregation opportunities."

Brandon Duff, Stan Johnson Company Managing Director & Partner, tells GlobeSt.com that investor demand for IOS properties continues to increase significantly as capital flows into this asset class. 

Criterion's acquisition of these properties is further evidence of that," Duff said. "We have seen dozens of sponsors enter the IOS & ISF space during the past 12 to 24 months as groups execute a variety of strategies along the risk curve and assemble institutional quality IOS & ISF portfolios."

Dunleer Expanding its IOS in SoCal

Another example is Dunleer, a Los Angeles-based private real estate investment and development firm, which recently acquired two industrial outdoor storage properties totaling approximately $13 million. The properties are located at 4404 W 1st Street in Santa Ana (Orange County) and 10027 Artesia Boulevard in Bellflower (Los Angeles County).

Dunleer plans on aggressively adding to its portfolio of IOS assets over the next 18 months in key Western U.S. infill locations.

"Dunleer is bullish on IOS assets for a wide variety of tenants," said BJ Turner, Founder of Dunleer, tells GlobeSt.com. "It is an irreplaceable part of a company's business model. They are also generally easy to manage and lease, and are a solid source of revenue with higher average cap rates compared to distribution centers. We are seeing more and more interest from a range of investors and users as there is no realistic path to replenishing the supply of this asset class as competing sites often get developed or rezoned."

"Both of these assets are located in extremely tight infill markets and we expect to attract a strong amount of demand from a wide variety of users including transportation, e-commerce, construction, construction materials and utility industries."