Port of Centralia Surpluses 15 Properties on Centralia Station Land

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Those looking to purchase a home have the opportunity to buy one of 15 properties that were surplussed by Port of Centralia commissioners on Wednesday. The catch? The purchaser will have to move the house or structure off of port property.

On Wednesday, Kyle Heaton, executive director of the port, proposed a resolution that would surplus the properties in the Long Road area and begin a competitive bid process. It would allow people to submit sealed bids to purchase homes located near the area that will house Centralia Station, a 43-acre multiuse development that is eyeing Fred Meyer as its anchor store.

Heaton said people can purchase the homes or other buildings located on the properties, move them and rehab them. 

The resolution, which was approved by the commissioners, will lower demolition costs for the port. Commissioner Matt Evans was not present at the meeting. 

“If we got lucky and every house went it would save in the neighborhood of $800,000 over time,” Heaton said. 

The port has undertaken this process successfully four other times.

The surplus of the properties is aimed to save taxpayer money, according to Heaton.

Since the port is no longer allowed to contract directly with LeMay, it has to instead take its trash to the Centralia Transfer Station, which costs more. Based on the most recent demolition project, it cost approximately $17 per foot for demolition because of the tipping fees, Heaton said. 



A timeline for moving the purchased structures off of port property has not yet been set, but it could range anywhere between 30 and 120 days. 

How the buyer removes the structure is ultimately up to them, Heaton said. The foundation and the concrete does not need to be removed. 

Heaton said he doesn’t expect every building to sell, but he did say there is some interest in properties. The port had talked about donating the properties for practice burns by the fire department, but those discussions were unsuccessful. 

An update on the construction of Centralia Station was also provided to the commissioners after the city engineer approved a modification to the plan. Progress has been made on two stormwater ponds located near Centralia Station, but the location of a city water main resulted in some changes. In order to connect the two ponds with a storm pipe, crews will have to dig under South Street. The port will downsize its storm pipe to 30 inches to accommodate for the already in place water main. 

Heaton said there was about three weeks worth of work left on the stormwater ponds, not including the road cut, which will be scheduled by the city. 

Commissioners also authorized a new listing agreement with Lee and Associates for 2120 North Park Drive.