The Port of Vancouver announced plans Tuesday to sell up to 22 acres of industrial property to Farwest Steel Corp., a move that could eventually generate up to 225 jobs at the port.
Under the plans, Farwest — a distributor, processor and fabricator of specialty steel products — would pay the port roughly $5 million to purchase property on the south side of Lower River Road. Farwest would then invest up to $30 million to construct a facility of more than 300,000 square feet on the property. Construction of the facility, which would include distribution, processing, fabrication and office space, could begin in the second quarter of 2011, according to port officials.
“This is very important to the port and to the community,” said Curtis Shuck, the port’s director of economic development and facilities. Shuck added that with this deal Eugene, Ore.-based Farwest could become one of the port’s larger employers.
The port’s plans will follow a two-step process with officials first proposing to take steps necessary to make the property available for sale and then following that action by securing a purchase and sale agreement with Farwest. The port’s Board of Commissioners must sign off on both steps of the process before the project can move forward. The board is slated to hold a public hearing on the first step — freeing up the property so it may be sold — at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 8, at the port administrative office, 3103 N.W. Lower River Road.
Larry Paulson, executive director of the port, said the port usually doesn’t work to sell land, but Farwest’s project won’t interfere with the port’s rail service and the opportunity to create jobs was too good to pass up.
“This is pretty unique,” he said.
Under plans for the property, Farwest would relocate 100 jobs to the port with plans to add another 125 workers. Thirty of the relocated jobs would come from Farwest’s facility at Vancouver’s Columbia Business Center, and the rest would come from the company’s facilities in Tualatin, Ore., and in Eugene, Ore. Port officials said the jobs will pay annual average wages of about $40,000 with benefits. Plans also call for requiring Farwest to maintain at least 100 jobs at the site. Port officials said the deal will indirectly create hundreds of additional jobs and generate $343,000 in taxes annually and $2.9 million in one-time sales tax revenue during construction.
‘Site is shovel-ready’
Farwest has been looking for a building site to aid its consolidation plans for several years, according to port officials, including looking along the Interstate 5 corridor in Washington and Oregon. Farwest and the port have been talking about the current proposal for about seven to eight months, Paulson said.
Paulson said Gov. Chris Gregoire has been kept abreast of the project and has offered her support, “mostly just encouragement.”
Shuck said the property attracted Farwest because of its proximity to rails and roads, and because the site will require little preparation for Farwest to build. “The site is shovel-ready,” Shuck said, “it’s ready to go.”
If the port’s Board of Commissioners approves the two-step process, Shuck said, then Farwest would proceed with obtaining a permit to build from Vancouver city officials.
Farwest, headquartered in Eugene, Ore., has lines of business in steel distribution, processing and fabrication. The company, founded in 1956, has locations in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Utah.
Port officials said Farwest’s proposed location will enable the company to capitalize on access to national and global distribution systems, both by road and rail.
