Tenant representation
Lease Industrial Space in the Inland Empire
Warehouse, distribution, IOS yards, and flex across Riverside and San Bernardino counties — the right space for your operation, and the lease timing that gives you leverage.
This is the most tenant-favourable leasing market the Inland Empire has seen since 2020. Direct vacancy is 7.6% — 8.6% including sublease — with availability at 12.9%, and average asking rents at $0.98/SF/mo NNN, down about 5% year over year. Landlords are offering free rent, improvement allowances, and term flexibility that did not exist three years ago. The leverage is real, but only if you start early enough to use it.
Why timing creates the leverage
Every bit of negotiating power a tenant has comes from being able to credibly go somewhere else. That requires time — enough to survey the market, tour, and get to competing proposals before your expiration forces your hand. A tenant with fourteen months runs a process. A tenant with four months renews on whatever terms the landlord offers, because everyone in the room knows moving is no longer possible.
Renewing is often the right outcome. It is just a much better outcome when the landlord knows you had alternatives.
What actually matters in the building
- Clear height — under 24 feet screens out most modern racking. 32 to 36 feet is current standard for distribution product.
- Loading — dock-high door count, truck court depth, and trailer parking decide whether you can physically operate, regardless of how the space is marketed.
- Power — the quiet dealbreaker. Automation, cold storage, and light manufacturing need service many older buildings do not have, and upgrades take months.
- Sprinkler type — ESFR versus older systems governs what and how high you are permitted to store.
- Yard and circulation — if trucks cannot turn, nothing else about the building matters.
How I work a requirement
- Define it properly — square footage, clear height, doors, power, yard, submarket tolerance, and timing, plus what you are willing to trade away.
- Survey the whole market, including space not yet listed and sublease opportunities that rarely surface in public searches.
- Tour and shortlist, then run competing proposals in parallel rather than sequentially — that is what makes landlords sharpen terms.
- Negotiate on effective rent, not face rate: free months, improvement allowance, escalations, expansion and termination rights, and who carries what on the operating expenses.
- Document and deliver — lease review alongside your counsel, then manage improvements through to occupancy.
Know the market before you tour
Read the current Inland Empire Industrial Market Report, or go straight to your target city and asset type in the submarket pages for local rents and conditions. If you are weighing a lease against buying a building outright, the Lease vs. Buy calculator puts both paths side by side over your time horizon.
Source: CBRE Q2 2026, Colliers Q1 2026, Kidder Mathews Q2 2026, Savills Q1 2026, Lee & Associates Mid-2026, Q2 2026.
By Dan Scodeller, Senior Vice President | Principal, Lee & Associates Last updated Data through Q2 2026
Questions about leasing industrial space
How much is warehouse rent in the Inland Empire?
Average asking rent is $0.98/SF/mo NNN as of Q2 2026 — about $1.11/SF/mo NNN in Inland Empire West and $0.94/SF/mo NNN in Inland Empire East. Rents are off roughly 5% year over year from about $1.03, though they ticked up from $0.96 the prior quarter, which suggests a floor forming. NNN means you also pay property taxes, insurance, and maintenance on top, typically $0.12 to $0.20 per square foot per month. Asking rent is a starting point, not the deal — in this market the effective rate after concessions is meaningfully lower.
How far ahead should I start looking for industrial space?
Start 12 to 18 months before your lease expires, and earlier for requirements above 200,000 square feet or anything needing heavy power or specialised improvements. That is not padding. Touring, negotiating, and documenting a lease takes two to four months; permitting and building out improvements takes another three to six; and heavy power upgrades through Southern California Edison can take considerably longer than that. Starting early also creates the one thing that actually generates leverage — a credible ability to walk, including the option to renew where you are.
What concessions can tenants get in the Inland Empire right now?
Real ones. With direct vacancy at 7.6% and availability at 12.9%, landlords are competing for credit tenants and are routinely offering free rent, improvement allowances, and flexibility on term, expansion rights, and early termination. The concession package is frequently worth more than a few cents on the asking rate, and it is where most of the negotiating value sits — which is exactly why comparing deals on face rent alone is a mistake. Effective rent, net of free months and allowances, is the number that matters.
Who pays the tenant representation broker?
The landlord does, in almost every industrial lease. Commission is customarily paid by the landlord out of the transaction and split between the listing broker and the tenant representative — the same total whether or not you bring your own broker. Going unrepresented does not save you that money; it simply means the entire fee goes to the broker working for the landlord, and you negotiate against a professional without one of your own. The arrangement is documented in writing before we tour anything.
Should I be in IE West or IE East?
It is a straight trade between drayage cost and occupancy cost. Inland Empire West runs 5.9% vacancy at $1.11/SF/mo NNN and puts you closer to the ports and Ontario International Airport. Inland Empire East runs 9.0% vacancy at $0.94/SF/mo NNN, with more available space and larger contiguous blocks. On a 200,000-square-foot requirement that rent spread is about $408,000 a year — enough to fund a lot of extra truck miles. If your economics are driven by turns per day, pay for the West; if they are driven by occupancy cost and you serve the broader Southwest, the East usually wins.
When does your lease expire?
If the answer is inside two years, it is worth a conversation now — that is where the leverage lives. Tell me your square footage, power needs, and timing. Call or text 949-763-3387.