The San Bernardino market includes Ontario, one of Southern California’s largest logistics and industrial centers. Its airport, freeway, rail, and distribution infrastructure create deep industrial demand, but the headline market data does not answer the small-business question: can you find a private, right-sized unit with the loading, HVAC, services, and lease flexibility your operation needs?
Market scale and vacancy
The City of Ontario’s 2024 opportunities booklet reported 120.2 million square feet of industrial space and a 4.6% vacancy rate. Its logistics one-pager similarly described more than 120 million square feet of industrial inventory and 240 logistics establishments.
These figures are useful for understanding market scale, but they are not a live vacancy measure and do not isolate small-bay or micro-bay inventory. A 100,000-square-foot distribution building and a 500-square-foot private unit serve different users.
| Ontario indicator | Reported figure | Data date/source |
|---|---|---|
| Industrial inventory | 120.2M SF | City of Ontario, 2024 Opportunities booklet |
| Industrial vacancy | 4.6% | City of Ontario, 2024 materials |
| Logistics establishments | 240+ | City of Ontario, 2024 materials |
| Airport freight | 750,000+ tons | 2023 activity cited by the City in 2024 |
Active inventory in 2026
The City of Ontario’s May 2026 for-lease report lists active warehouse, light-distribution, manufacturing, and related industrial properties across the Airport Area submarket. The report confirms that inventory is moving through the market, but many listings target occupiers much larger than a small business seeking a few hundred to a few thousand square feet.
This report does not reproduce listing rents. Any third-party asking-rent figure must be read as comparable-market data, not WareSpace achieved or asking rent.
Airport, freeway, and rail demand anchors
Ontario International Airport handled more than 750,000 tons of freight in 2023, according to the City’s 2024 materials. Ontario also sits at I-10, I-15, and SR-60 and is served by Union Pacific and BNSF. These connections support parcel carriers, distributors, ecommerce sellers, manufacturers, contractors, and service businesses.
The same network can create truck traffic and access constraints at specific properties. City traffic counts show substantial volumes on Airport Road, Haven, Milliken, Etiwanda, and surrounding corridors. Users should inspect the actual driveway, loading path, and carrier routine rather than relying on a map pin.
Development and future supply
The City describes Ontario International Airport as the only major Southern California airport with expansion capacity. Its 2024 opportunities booklet highlights the planned 4.3 million-square-foot HUB@ONT industrial logistics project and additional long-range industrial development in Ontario Ranch.
Large-format construction can strengthen the wider logistics ecosystem without creating right-sized private units. Small businesses should separately verify minimum unit size, total occupancy cost, loading access, HVAC, utilities, WiFi, permitted use, and lease term.
Where WareSpace fits
WareSpace Ontario is coming soon at 4290 East Brickell Street. The location carries building code 030OSB for waitlist attribution. No public opening date, live inventory, local offer, GBP profile, or Ontario-specific pricing has been published.
Explore the six supporting guides:
- Ontario warehouse costs
- Ontario warehouse areas
- Warehouse space near Ontario International Airport
- Contractor warehouse space in Ontario
- Ecommerce warehouse space in Ontario
- Ontario warehouse space versus self-storage
Methodology: city industrial inventory, vacancy, establishment, and airport figures come from 2024 City of Ontario materials and include the cited underlying 2023 airport activity. Active-listing context comes from the City’s May 2026 report. No current absorption figure was available from the approved source pack, so none is stated. The statistics describe the broader industrial market, not only small private units. WareSpace’s published all-inclusive Monthly License Fee starts at $1,000/mo.
