Quarterly research · Q2 2026
Inland Empire Industrial Market Report — Q2 2026
Rents, vacancy, availability, industrial outdoor storage cap rates, and the transactions actually setting pricing across Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
By Dan Scodeller, Senior Vice President | Principal, Lee & Associates Last updated
- 7.6%
- Direct vacancy
- 8.6% including sublease space
- 12.9%
- Availability rate
- Includes space marketed but not yet vacant
- $0.98
- Avg asking rent /SF/mo NNN
- 4.8% below $1.03 a year ago
- 25.7M SF
- Leased year to date
- Demand is transacting, not frozen
Source: CBRE Q2 2026, Colliers Q1 2026, Kidder Mathews Q2 2026, Savills Q1 2026, Lee & Associates Mid-2026. Figures are aggregated from published brokerage research for the Inland Empire industrial market.
1. Where does the Inland Empire industrial market stand in Q2 2026?
The Inland Empire industrial market is tenant-favorable but stabilizing. Direct vacancy is 7.6% ( 8.6% including sublease) and availability is 12.9% — both elevated by new deliveries and sublease space. Average asking rents are $0.98/SF/mo NNN, about 4.8% below a year ago (roughly $1.03), but up from $0.96 the prior quarter — rents appear to be finding a floor. Tenants leased 25.7 million square feet year to date.
The nuance most headlines miss: elevated vacancy in the Inland Empire is a supply story, not a demand collapse. The 2021–2024 development wave delivered an enormous volume of new big-box product into a market that had been running below 2% vacancy, and a second wave of sublease space came back as tenants who over-leased during the pandemic right-sized. Both pressures hit asking rates at the same time.
What is actually happening underneath is a repricing, not a retreat. 25.7 million square feet of leasing year to date is real absorption — the Inland Empire remains the primary distribution hub for the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and for roughly 25 million consumers within a half-day drive. Tenants are still committing. They are simply committing at rents that are 5% cheaper than last year, with more concessions.
For owners, the practical read is that the correction is late-stage rather than early. The quarter-over-quarter uptick from $0.96 to $0.98 is the first constructive rent signal in several quarters. For tenants, the practical read is that the window of maximum leverage is open now and narrows as sublease space burns off.
| Metric | Q2 2026 | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Direct vacancy | 7.6% | Space vacant and directly available from landlords |
| Total vacancy (incl. sublease) | 8.6% | Adds roughly one point of sublease space |
| Availability rate | 12.9% | Includes marketed-but-occupied space — the leverage number |
| Average asking rent | $0.98/SF/mo NNN | Up from $0.96 prior quarter |
| Rent change, year over year | −4.8% | Down from about $1.03 a year ago |
| Leasing volume, year to date | 25.7M SF | Demand continues to transact |
| IOS cap rate (indicative) | ~6.5% | Yards priced separately from buildings |
2. How do Inland Empire West and East compare?
Inland Empire West (Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Chino, Mira Loma/Jurupa Valley) runs about 5.9% vacancy at roughly $1.11/SF/mo NNN — tighter and pricier, and closer to the ports. Inland Empire East (San Bernardino, Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris, Redlands) runs about 9.0% vacancy at roughly $0.94/SF/mo NNN — softer and more affordable, with most of the new big-box construction.
| Inland Empire West | Inland Empire East | |
|---|---|---|
| Direct vacancy | 5.9% | 9.0% |
| Average asking rent (NNN) | $1.11/SF/mo | $0.94/SF/mo |
| Core cities | Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Chino, Mira Loma/Jurupa Valley, Rialto, Corona | San Bernardino, Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris, Redlands, Colton, Bloomington |
| Character | Tighter and pricier, port-proximate, premium logistics demand | Softer and more affordable, driven by big-box construction |
The roughly $0.17 per square foot per month spread between West and East is not arbitrary — it is a transportation cost calculation. On 200,000 square feet, that spread is about $408,000 a year. Whether that premium is worth paying depends almost entirely on how many truck turns your operation runs to the ports. High-frequency drayage operations pay it without blinking. Regional distributors serving the broader Southwest generally do not.
The second difference is product age and size. Most large modern blocks — 36-foot clear, ESFR sprinklers, deep truck courts, heavy power — were built east, because that is where the land was. A tenant who needs 500,000 contiguous square feet of modern building has far more options in Moreno Valley or Perris than in Chino, and will pay materially less for it.
Browse individual submarkets for city-level detail on each property type.
3. Why is industrial outdoor storage (IOS) the strongest niche?
IOS is the hottest corner of the Inland Empire industrial market and the only segment that remains clearly seller-favorable. Supply is structurally constrained because most jurisdictions have stopped entitling new outdoor storage. Institutional capital has formed around the segment, and yards now trade as a separate asset from the building on them, at roughly a 6.5% cap rate.
Industrial outdoor storage means truck and trailer parking, container storage, equipment yards, and contractor yards — land where the income comes from the dirt, not from a structure. For years it was treated as a residual: a low-value use waiting to be redeveloped into a building. That changed when institutional investors recognized three things at once.
First, supply is capped by policy. Cities across Riverside and San Bernardino counties have tightened or eliminated outdoor storage entitlements. Existing legal yards cannot be replicated, and legal-nonconforming status carries real scarcity value. Second, demand is structural — port drayage, last-mile fleets, equipment rental, and construction all need yard space and none of them can operate from a warehouse. Third, the operating model is simple: minimal capital expenditure, no tenant improvement allowances, no roof.
The result is a segment whose fundamentals run opposite the building market. While warehouse rents corrected 4.8% and vacancy climbed to 7.6%, IE yards have held pricing near a 6.5% cap. Recent San Bernardino IOS portfolio recapitalizations demonstrate that institutional bid depth is real, not theoretical.
The critical implication for owners: if you own a building on a large site with excess yard, you may own two assets rather than one. Underwriting the yard separately frequently produces a materially higher total value than valuing the whole parcel on a dollars-per-building-square-foot basis. That is the single most common mistake I see in Inland Empire owner valuations.
What actually drives yard pricing: usable acreage and coverage ratio, zoning and whether outdoor storage is permitted or legal-nonconforming, surface condition, secured perimeter and lighting, truck circulation and turning radius, and freeway access. See IOS conditions by city .
4. What transactions are setting Inland Empire pricing?
Three recent transactions frame the market: a $270 million, ~1.47 million SF Amazon portfolio sale in Rialto (institutional capital still pays for credit big-box), Moreno Valley's ~862,000 SF Goodyear lease against Keeco's ~1.3 million SF move-out (big-box churn cuts both ways), and a three-property, 16.7-acre San Bernardino IOS recapitalization (yards are now an institutional asset class).
Amazon two-property portfolio, ~1.47M SF, sold for $270M
A two-building, roughly 1.47 million-square-foot Amazon-occupied portfolio traded for approximately $270 million — evidence that institutional capital is still paying up for credit-tenant, big-box distribution in the central Inland Empire.
Goodyear leased ~862K SF; Keeco vacated ~1.3M SF
Goodyear committed to roughly 862,000 square feet while Keeco gave back about 1.3 million square feet. Big-box tenant churn in IE East cuts both ways: large blocks are being absorbed, but move-outs keep availability elevated.
Three-property, 16.7-acre IOS portfolio recapitalized
A three-property industrial outdoor storage portfolio totaling 16.7 acres was recapitalized — part of a wave of institutional capital forming around IE yards as a standalone asset class.
Read together, these tell a coherent story. Capital is not absent from the Inland Empire — it is selective. Credit-tenant, well-located big-box still clears at institutional pricing. Speculative vacant big-box in the east competes with new construction and takes longer. And yards, which do not depend on any of that, keep trading.
Source: Transaction details compiled from public records and brokerage research, Q2 2026. CBRE Q2 2026, Colliers Q1 2026, Kidder Mathews Q2 2026, Savills Q1 2026, Lee & Associates Mid-2026.
5. What does this market mean for you?
If you own Inland Empire industrial property
Your decision depends on what you own. Own a yard or IOS site? This is a strong moment to sell or recapitalize — supply is constrained and institutional buyers are active at roughly 6.5% caps. Own small or mid-bay product in IE West? Conditions are workable at 5.9% vacancy. Own vacant big-box in IE East? Patience usually pays — you are competing with new construction at 9.0% vacancy.
Whatever the case, start from a current number rather than a remembered one. Values moved materially between 2022 and today, in both directions depending on segment. If you own a building with surplus land, insist that the yard be valued separately.
Get an instant value range, or request a full broker opinion of value — no cost, no obligation.
If you are buying or investing
This is the first genuine buyer's window in the Inland Empire since 2019. Availability at 12.9% means real negotiating leverage, and sellers who need liquidity are transacting. The discipline required: underwrite by submarket, not by region, because 5.9% and 9.0% vacancy are entirely different risk profiles.
Two strategies are working right now. Buy quality IE West product where the vacancy downside is limited and the tenant pool is deepest. Or buy yards and IOS, where the supply constraint is structural and institutional exit liquidity has already been demonstrated. The strategy that is not working is buying vacant east-side big-box on the assumption that rents snap back quickly.
I source off-market and pre-market opportunities across both counties. Tell me your buy box.
If you are a tenant looking for space
Move now. Asking rents at $0.98/SF/mo NNN are 4.8% below last year, availability is 12.9%, and landlords are giving real concessions — free rent, TI dollars, and flexible terms. But the quarter-over-quarter rent uptick from $0.96 to $0.98 is the early signal that this window is closing.
Practical guidance: if your lease expires within 18 months, start now — renewal leverage comes from having a credible alternative, and building one takes time. If you can operate in IE East, the $0.17 per square foot spread is worth modeling seriously against your actual trucking costs. And if you need yard space, secure it first and fit the building around it; yards are the constraint, not the buildings.
Compare submarkets or have me run a site search for your requirement.
Inland Empire industrial market — frequently asked questions
What is the average warehouse rent in the Inland Empire?
The average asking rent for Inland Empire industrial space is $0.98/SF/mo NNN as of Q2 2026. That figure splits sharply by sub-region: Inland Empire West — Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Chino, and Mira Loma/Jurupa Valley — averages about $1.11/SF/mo NNN, while Inland Empire East — San Bernardino, Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris, and Redlands — averages about $0.94/SF/mo NNN. NNN means the tenant pays taxes, insurance, and maintenance on top of that base rent, typically adding $0.12 to $0.20 per square foot per month. Asking rents are roughly 4.8% lower than a year ago, when the average was about $1.03, but they are up from $0.96 the prior quarter. Sources: CBRE Q2 2026, Colliers Q1 2026, Kidder Mathews Q2 2026, Savills Q1 2026, Lee & Associates Mid-2026.
What is the industrial vacancy rate in the Inland Empire?
Direct vacancy in the Inland Empire is 7.6% as of Q2 2026, and total vacancy including sublease space is 8.6%. The availability rate — which counts space being marketed even if it is still occupied — is higher at 12.9%, and availability is the number that actually predicts negotiating leverage. Vacancy is meaningfully higher in Inland Empire East (about 9.0%) than Inland Empire West (about 5.9%), because most new big-box construction landed on the east side. Elevated vacancy here is a supply story from the 2021–2024 development wave plus sublease space returning to market, not a collapse in demand: tenants still leased 25.7 million square feet year to date.
How much does industrial outdoor storage (IOS) sell for in the Inland Empire?
Inland Empire IOS is trading around a 6.5% cap rate as of Q2 2026, and it is priced as its own asset — separate from, and often independent of, whatever building sits on the site. Per-acre pricing swings widely because the value drivers are physical and regulatory rather than architectural: usable acreage and coverage ratio, whether outdoor storage is a permitted use or legal-nonconforming under current zoning, surface condition (paved, chipseal, or dirt), secured perimeter, power and lighting, truck turning radius, and freeway access. Two yards a mile apart can differ 40% in value on zoning alone. Supply is structurally constrained — most IE jurisdictions have stopped entitling new outdoor storage — so this is the one corner of the market that remains firmly seller-favorable.
Is now a good time to sell industrial property in the Inland Empire?
It depends entirely on what you own. If you own a yard or IOS site, yes — that segment is supply-constrained, institutional buyers are actively forming portfolios, cap rates near 6.5% are holding, and recent San Bernardino portfolio recapitalizations show real bid depth. If you own a well-located small or mid-bay building in Inland Empire West, conditions are workable: vacancy there is about 5.9%, and quality product with functional clear height still draws competitive interest. If you own vacant big-box space in Inland Empire East, patience usually pays: vacancy is about 9.0%, you are competing with new construction, and rents at $0.94/SF/mo NNN are still working off the correction. The signal worth watching is that asking rents ticked up from $0.96 to $0.98 quarter over quarter — the correction appears to be finding its floor.
What is the difference between Inland Empire West and Inland Empire East?
Inland Empire West covers Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Chino, Mira Loma/Jurupa Valley, Rialto, and Corona. It is closer to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and to Ontario International Airport, has less developable land left, and consequently runs tighter and pricier — roughly 5.9% vacancy at $1.11/SF/mo NNN. Inland Empire East covers San Bernardino, Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris, Redlands, Colton, and Bloomington. It absorbed the bulk of recent big-box development, has more available land, and runs softer and more affordable — roughly 9.0% vacancy at $0.94/SF/mo NNN. Practically: tenants who need drayage efficiency and same-day port turns pay the West premium; tenants who need large blocks, modern buildings, and lower occupancy cost go East. The trucking cost of the extra 20 to 30 miles is what decides it.
Data sources and methodology
Every figure on this page is aggregated from published brokerage research for the Inland Empire industrial market. Where sources report slightly different figures — normal, since each tracks a somewhat different building set — this report uses the consensus range and cites the quarter. Sub-regional West and East figures are proxies for individual cities; actual conditions on a specific building or yard can differ materially.
| Source | Period | Publication |
|---|---|---|
| CBRE | Q2 2026 | Inland Empire Industrial Figures |
| Colliers | Q1 2026 | Inland Empire Industrial Market Report |
| Kidder Mathews | Q2 2026 | Inland Empire Industrial Market Research |
| Savills | Q1 2026 | Inland Empire Industrial Market Overview |
| Lee & Associates | Mid-2026 | North America Industrial Market Report |
This report is refreshed quarterly. Data is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Nothing here is an appraisal, a formal broker price opinion, or investment advice — it is market commentary intended to inform a conversation about a specific property.
By Dan Scodeller, Senior Vice President | Principal, Lee & Associates Last updated Data through Q2 2026