GlobeSt.: Erik Sherman
Dec 17, 2025
In the vast expanse of U.S. warehouse space, billions of square feet sit idle at any given time. For companies waiting months—or even years—to secure long-term tenants, that empty capacity represents lost revenue. But a growing short-term industrial leasing market is turning dormant square footage into an opportunity.
“There are times it will take 12, 24, 36 months to get a deal done to get the next 10- or 15-year tenant,” Keith Hovan, chief executive officer of short-term warehouse marketplace Warehub, tells GlobeSt.com. “There are companies interested in taking leases for briefer periods, potentially keeping money flowing in a space during the time to do the deal.”
These temporary users often have particular needs—such as testing new markets, launching products, or handling seasonal surges. Even government agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency use short-term warehouse space to pre-position supplies and equipment ahead of natural disasters. Seasonal users can include industries as varied as agriculture and retail, from farmers storing crops to garden centers stocking up for spring.
The potential scale of these short-term deals is enormous. Hovan says Warehub tracks roughly 19.5 billion square feet of total U.S. warehousing stock. With a 7.5% vacancy rate, that translates to between 1.4 billion and 1.5 billion square feet of idle space—space that could be generating income.
Market shocks such as trade tariffs have also fueled demand for flexible storage. “One of our 3PL clients, as the tariffs were being announced, needed to bring in 250,000 cases of beer from Mexico and needed to do it really quick so it wouldn’t be affected by tariffs,” Hovan says.
Warehub’s model streamlines a process that Hovan describes as historically “highly people-dependent, not automated, not digitized, cumbersome and slow.” On the platform, landlords can list available space and total square footage. Occupiers can then request a portion of that space, and owners can partition as needed.
“The way our platform is structured is that a landlord can place a property onto the platform and put the total square footage available on a listing,” Hovan explains. “If someone only wants a portion of that space, they could request a reservation.”
Warehub offers what Hovan calls a “full life-cycle centralized system for industrial leasing.” Users can locate and lease properties online, manage operations during the rental term, and even arrange on-site essentials—from forklifts and pallet wrappers to temporary restroom facilities.