We are moving soon to a new house.  I want a storage shed (about 200 sq ft) but prices right now are nuts.  I'd be looking at about $9K for the shed and another ~$1K for a gravel pad.  Additionally, we will only be in the house for a few years (probably 3) and I am pretty sure that while a shed may add something to resale value, its not going to add $10K to resale.

I am considering getting a nice heavy duty canvas wall tent instead.  I priced a few out and I can get a 14x16 with 6 rafters (2.3 foot spacing), 6' sidewalls, fly, floor, etc for right around $2K.  I would probably have to put down a basic platform/deck (or poured concrete pad) to anchor it to, which is probably another ~$2K at today's crazy material prices (that's using 3/4" plywood for a surface, not deck boards...).  That is about $4K total, with the added advantage that I can bring the tent with me when we move.

The area is in the midwest.  It looks like they get about 27" of snow annually, rarely more than 9" in a whole month, so rafters every 2' or so should be able to handle that.  Average wind for the winter is 9 MPH with the 90th percentile at about 18 MPH.

I want to store bikes, lawn care equipment, stuff like that.

Am I crazy?  Will everything get wet and moldy?  Will the tent blow away one winter?  Anyone tried this before?

I'm in the midwest and you can get 12x16 drop sheds for around 6k. You could probably build one for 4ishk.
Shed

Accessory buildings by code can't have metal walls in the area we're headed to.  :(

The stick frame sheds seem to be more expensive than the metal ones.

I doubt that canvas would last being in the sun that long.   We had a 12x12 wall tent that was in like new condition, till it got left up for 6 months in Colorado.    It did last a few more years for annual hunts, but started falling apart after that.   The 10x12 that was the same age, but only used for hunts, is still in great shape.

I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, but if metal walls aren't allowed how is a canvas sided tent going to pass inspection? Or is it just something about metal that is dangerous there?

Someone gave me a HUGE British military-surplus canvas wall tent a few years ago. The thing weighed several hundred pounds, and was a work of art, with stuff like laced corners.

I had plans for using it as a hunting drop camp, but only set it up once - it took several people a couple hours.

I advertising it in the local yard-sale website, tried giving it away to fellow hunters, and eventually just hauled it to the dump.