Discover insights on one of Savannah’s most strategically relevant port-adjacent IOS transactions. RIVR RE has represented both the landlord and tenant on a new Industrial Outdoor Storage (IOS) lease at Barrow Drive, Pooler, Georgia. Savannah Auto Export Inc. — a locally based, family-owned vehicle export company — will operate their container loading and staging business from the 6-acre site. David Gaule of RIVR acted on behalf of both parties throughout the transaction, completing a dual-representation mandate that reflects RIVR’s depth of relationships across Savannah’s port-corridor IOS market.

The Barrow Drive site provides Savannah Auto Export with the outdoor storage and vehicle staging capacity required to support their containerised auto export operations — with direct proximity to the Port of Savannah’s vehicle and container handling infrastructure.

About Savannah Auto Export

Savannah Auto Export Inc. is a Savannah-based, family-owned auto export company specialising in the containerised international shipping of cars and vehicles from the Port of Savannah. The company operates a full-service export platform — sourcing vehicles through domestic auction networks including Copart, IAAI, Manheim, and QCSA, staging and preparing them for export, loading them into shipping containers, and managing the ocean freight logistics to destinations across Africa, the Middle East, and other international markets.

Savannah is one of the premier gateways for international vehicle exports in the United States, a position driven by the Port of Savannah’s scale, efficiency, and deep-sea vessel access. The port’s Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) and container terminal capabilities make it the natural hub for auto exporters serving international buyers who source vehicles from the US auction market. For Savannah Auto Export, a well-located IOS site with outdoor vehicle staging capacity in close proximity to the port is not a convenience — it is an operational necessity.

The 6-acre Barrow Drive lease provides exactly that: a port-proximate outdoor storage yard of sufficient scale to stage, inspect, and prepare vehicles for container loading and export, in a location that minimises the drayage cost and logistical complexity of moving vehicles between storage and the port terminal.

About the Barrow Drive Location

Barrow Drive is located in Pooler’s industrial corridor — one of the primary logistics and industrial land zones serving the Port of Savannah’s western approach. Pooler sits at the junction of I-16 and I-95, providing rapid access to the Garden City and Ocean Terminals, Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, and the broader Southeast highway network. For IOS operators whose businesses are tethered to port activity, the Pooler industrial corridor offers the combination of site availability, appropriate zoning, and locational efficiency that increasingly scarce port-adjacent land within the City of Savannah cannot.

The 6-acre scale of the Barrow Drive site is significant in the context of Savannah’s IOS market. Sites of this size — large enough to stage meaningful vehicle inventory while providing operational flexibility for container loading logistics — are consistently among the most sought-after in the port submarket. As institutional capital has entered the Savannah IOS market at scale, competition for well-located, appropriately sized outdoor storage sites has intensified, making RIVR’s ability to identify and secure this site on behalf of Savannah Auto Export a meaningful advisory outcome.

RIVR’s Dual Representation — and What It Means for the IOS Market

This transaction is RIVR’s second dual-representation IOS mandate — alongside the $6.2 million sale of 290-310 Telfair Road to Open Industrial. Dual representation in a specialist asset class like IOS, where both landlords and tenants require advisors who understand the specific operational, zoning, and locational requirements of outdoor storage, reflects a depth of market knowledge that generalist CRE firms cannot replicate.

For landlords with IOS-capable land in the Savannah port corridor — including Pooler, Garden City, Port Wentworth, and the I-16 logistics belt — RIVR’s established relationships with both institutional investors like Open Industrial and operating tenants like Savannah Auto Export give the firm a uniquely complete picture of supply and demand in this market.

IOS Leasing Near the Port of Savannah — Talk to RIVR

RIVR RE specialises in IOS leasing and sales across Savannah’s port-adjacent industrial corridors, including Pooler, Garden City, Port Wentworth, and East Savannah. We represent both landlords with IOS-capable sites seeking tenants, and operators requiring outdoor storage, vehicle staging, and logistics yard space near the port.

If you own IOS land near the Port of Savannah or are an operator seeking port-proximate outdoor storage, contact David Gaule or Mandy Henderson directly.

Email: info@rivr.re | Phone: 912 307 9998

→ Learn more about RIVR’s industrial leasing services → Read about the $6.2M IOS sale at 290-310 Telfair Road → View all RIVR transaction announcements