Walls Going Up Soon at Grocery Distribution Center Where 350 Jobs Are Expected

An incoming grocery distribution center in Centralia intended to bring 350 jobs to the area is well underway, and some of the walls are set to go up in November.

“One of the most wonderful parts of (this project) is that the city and port have been just fabulous to work with,” said Tom O’Keefe, who is the principal and CEO of O’Keefe Development.

O’Keefe Development is constructing the grocery distribution center and will lease the building to a yet-to-be-announced tenant. Tom O’Keefe recently joined the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce, and previously told The Chronicle that this is “Centralia’s time.”

“The majority of the site work is completed and all the underground utilities for the most part are done,” O’Keefe said. “Quite a bit is done when you drive by and look at it. … There has been a significant amount completed over the last couple months.”

O’Keefe Development broke ground on the project in June 2018, and the tenant is set to be in and operating by July 1, 2019.

“The contract date on our lease is July 1 and we’re doing everything we can to get them in sooner,” O’Keefe said.

O’Keefe Development’s tenant for the $100 million project has yet to release its name, but O’Keefe told The Chronicle that he has been receiving many inquiries. He will not release the name without his tenant’s go ahead.

“I wish I could,” O’Keefe said. “I know they are planning a very formal release and presentation and I’m not sure what their timing is. I know it’s soon, I just don’t know when.”

O’Keefe speculated that the tenant will reveal its name before the end of the year, but said it was only his guess. The tenant is supposed to bring 350 jobs, but has not made a formal announcement.

“It’s what the company is telling me they’re bringing in,” O’Keefe said.

Previously, O’Keefe speculated that the tenant would begin searching locally for employees in February 2019, based on the business thinking three months ahead. He also said at the time that he believed the business would need warehouse workers, drivers and administrative staff. 

The $100 million grocery distribution center will cover 1.3 million square feet, which is more than 30 acres. O’Keefe previously said there will be 17,000 square feet of office space and that the distribution center would be a 24-hour operation. 

“Probably 70 percent of site is now covered — which means it is either covered in concrete or asphalt,” O’Keefe said. “(It) helps the construction project go much quicker. … After the slab is poured, they do the wall panels. It’s known as concrete tilt-up construction. … The week of Nov. 5, you will see the whole south half of the building up.”

O’Keefe said the roof will start going on sometime next month and be finished before the end of the year.