Port of Chehalis Authorizes $1.5 Million Sale Agreement With Pacific Mobile Structures

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After an executive session, Port of Chehalis commissioners on Thursday authorized a sale agreement with Pacific Mobile Structures, Inc. for a price tag of $1.5 million.

According to Randy Mueller, chief executive officer of the port, both parties have now signed the agreement and the sale will close no later than Sept. 30. 

Pacific Mobile Structures, a company that sells and leases mobile office space and builds modular structures, will purchase 13.19 acres of land south of Maurin Road. The business, currently headquartered in Chehalis, will construct a branch office, shop and corporate office at the new location.

The company will retain 31 existing jobs, and will eventually provide 17 new jobs.

In December, Port of Chehalis commissioners authorized the sale of the property to Pacific Mobile Structures, although the final closing of the property sale will not happen until all the legal requirements are met.

Mueller said port staff will present a supplemental budget to reflect the incoming revenue around the same time the sale closes.

A large part of the port’s mission is to attract new businesses to the area, but Mueller said it is equally important to provide existing businesses room to expand while bringing new jobs to the area.  

“That’s something Pacific Mobile talked about, so that’s why we try to do that work whenever we can and help local folks out,” he said. 

 

Along with the authorized sale agreement, Mueller let Port of Chehalis commissioners know at their Thursday meeting that the Maurin Road Industrial Site is now shovel-ready after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the regional general permit for fill on Monday. 

The approval was needed so the port could move forward with archeological work on the site this summer. The work is slated to begin on Aug. 15. 

“It’s shovel-ready now, but with the archeological work done, there would be no other investigative work any potential purchaser would ever have to do, so this is a big milestone for us,” he said. 

The port now has all the required permits needed for the 34-acre triangle-shaped piece of property, otherwise known as the Unzelman property.

The port will be filling 6.29 acres of wetlands on the property, resulting in almost 8 acres of credit that will be subtracted from the already created 40 acres of credit at its Pleasant Valley Mitigation Site. 

Now the port will have a little over 32 acres of credit at the advanced mitigation site.

Wetland mitigation, or the process of creating a wetland to replace one that is being turned into land usable for industries and warehouses, serves to make up for the impact of removing the lands.



The process with the Corps of Engineers took a little over a year to complete.

“So we have a 34-acre piece of property that if someone wanted to buy it, they could go out and they could start probably within a week,” Mueller said.

 

According to the second quarterly financial update for the port, business has been strong. The port closed on two property sales this year with Sound Wood Products and The Water Doctor. The third sale with Pacific Mobile Structures, Inc. is set to close soon, and a fourth sale with Sighthound is currently in the works. 

Mueller said the sale with Sighthound most likely will not close this year, and no further information was available.

The port had no new tenants during its second quarter, because currently port facilities are 100 percent full.

 

Draft leasing and sales process policies were discussed by port commissioners, but a decision on the items was tabled.

The policies aim to streamline the process at the port as activity continues to pick up, Mueller said. 

The draft policies lay out a step by step process to deal with both leasing and sales.

Commissioners and port attorney Brian Kelly expressed some concern about a plan that leaves little room for changes to be made for certain clients, if warranted. 

 

As Lewis County works on an improvement project to Shorey Road, the county has asked for one permanent and one temporary easement from the port. The widening of the road means the county would need some additional property that is owned by the port near the Curtis line railroad crossing.

Mueller said there would be little to no impact to the port as long as they could still utilize the rail line, and recommended commissioners to sign off on the property.

Port Commission Chair Ken Kostick said providing the easements to the county is a logical approach that would save both time and money.