Join us Wednesday, April 22nd at 3pm ET as 12 high-growth operators present their platforms live on Zoom. Register here (accredited & institutional investors only)
The big-box logistics trade is over. Cap rates have compressed, new supply has flooded gateway markets, and the alpha that defined the 2015–2022 industrial cycle has largely been arbitraged away.
But while institutional capital was focused on the logistics megatrade, specialized operators have been building real platforms across dozens of fragmented, operationally intensive sub-asset classes that most investors had never heard of, let alone underwritten:
Industrial outdoor storage (IOS)
Small-bay & micro-bay warehouses
Cold storage
Powered land
Film studios
Aviation hangars
Self storage in lifestyle markets
Over the past several months, we went deep into the Thesis Driven community to find the most compelling operators across these sub-sset classes—groups generating higher yields, with proven track records, at a scale that's ready for institutional capital.
The result is our Niche Industrial 2026 Market Report, which profiles 13 operators across 20+ sub-asset classes and maps the full investor landscape.
Next Wednesday, we're bringing several of these operators together for a live pitch session.
Note: you must be an accredited or institutional investor to join the event
Operators Featured
Karis. $1B+ deployed across powered land (2,800+ entitled acres, 500MW+ committed capacity) and cold storage (10 properties, ~1.45M SF), targeting 15%+ investor IRRs
Westlake Realty. West Coast IOS and self storage consolidator with a $200M+ actionable pipeline targeting supply-constrained primary markets
Ironhorn Enterprises. Manufacturing and heavy industrial platform targeting 30%+ IRR with a fully integrated operating model and off-market sourcing advantage
CA South. Nashville developer building purpose-built, small-lot secured storage product for SMBs across the Southeast and Southwest, targeting 10% unlevered yield on cost
Moir Park. 75 IOS properties across 27 states, consolidating into a single open-ended fund structure, led by a founder with $2B+ in alternative asset deployments
ErvoSquare. Value-add small-bay industrial and IOS along Colorado's Front Range with select realized exits at 19–71% IRR
Knickpoint Studios. 28 production and entertainment properties across 3 regions, acquiring soundstage assets at a generational dislocation
Foxfield. Nearly 250K SF across 24 small-bay assets developed on underutilized East Coast infill land with ~20% levered project IRRs
Ludlow Property Group. The only institutional platform targeting self storage in America's leisure towns, a $6B addressable market where 99% of facilities are independently owned
Details
Investor Panel: David Cotterman (Drake), Nina Vascotto (ICONIQ), Brad Hargeaves (Thesis Driven), Paul Stanton (Thesis Driven)
Date: Wednesday, April 23 - 3pm EDT
Format: Virtual. Operators will present their platforms and strategies live, followed by Q&A.
Who should attend: PERE firms, family offices, RIAs, and institutional allocators looking at alternatives within the niche industrial sector. Also relevant for operators and developers exploring adjacent niches.
Note: if you cannot attend live, recordings and operator materials will be shared with all registrants.nts
Each presenting operator is building something differentiated,whether through operational innovation, technology, market selection, or a novel capital strategy. These are the groups we believe investors should be tracking closely.
Paul Stanton is a Partner at PTB, a boutique investment bank focused on joint ventures, capital raising, and M&A transactions. Paul is a Teacher and Writer at Thesis Driven, developing and growing next-gen real estate & proptech concepts.
