Farwest Steel Corp. is closer to breaking ground on a new facility at the Port of Vancouver after clearing a review of the project’s environmental impacts.
The company, which plans to construct a 364,687-square-foot steel fabrication and distribution plant and eventually employ 228 people there, must also complete the purchase of 20 acres from the port to move forward with construction.
Farwest is expected to close on the property no later than the end of this month.
The Eugene, Ore.-based company plans to kick off construction sometime in late June or early July, said Katie Odem, a spokeswoman for the port. The new facility, to be built in two phases, would open for business sometime in 2012.
“They’re in the final stretch,” Odem said. “Everything seems to be in place.”
The deadline to appeal the project on environmental grounds was May 12, and no one appealed, said Jon Wagner, senior planner for the city of Vancouver.
However, Farwest Steel did agree to minor changes to its application for a building permit. To better shield pedestrians and bicyclists from the Farwest operation, for example, the company will plant a taller and faster-growing shrub along Northwest Lower River Road.
Under the state’s Environmental Policy Act, the city reviewed the Farwest project’s impacts to land, air, water and wildlife. In clearing Farwest to build, the city issued a “final determination of nonsignificance,” which means the city doesn’t think the project will do irreparable harm to the environment.
The fabrication plant Farwest wants to build is the latest step in the company’s larger plans to consolidate operations at the Port of Vancouver and to grow. The port’s Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a deal in August 2010 that sold 20 acres to Farwest for $5 million.
The board’s decision opened a path for the company to spend an estimated $30 million to construct the new complex. The building would house multiple operations, including industrial, warehouse and distribution facilities, office space, a covered truck wash and fueling area, a covered loading area and employee locker rooms.
The company plans to relocate 100 jobs to the site at first and to eventually hire another 128 workers.
