Port of Seattle Sells Warehouses to Charlie's Produce

SEATTLE - The Port of Seattle Commission yesterday approved the sale of two buildings in the Duwamish industrial area to Charlie's Produce, a wholesaler and distributor of food products to the restaurant, grocery, hotel, cruise ship and fishing industries in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

The Port has owned the two warehouse buildings and approximately 16 acres of land since the early 1970s, when they were acquired from the federal government. The buildings, at Terminal 106 East, are at 4101 East Marginal Way and 4700 East Marginal Way.

At the time of the purchase, West Coast ports were in the early stages of moving from breakbulk cargo to containerized shipments. The Port purchased and operated the warehouse buildings to demonstrate that importers could conduct national distribution activities from Seattle.

"That demonstration proved successful," said Port of Seattle CEO M. R. Dinsmore. "The Kent Valley has emerged as a major center for warehousing and distribution of imported goods arriving at Puget Sound ports."

The Port elected to close its warehousing operation last year after its largest warehouse tenant, the toy company Hasbro, consolidated all of its distribution centers around the country at one location in Ontario, California. The recommendation to sell the two buildings came after the Port was unable to generate strong interest from potential long-term lessees.

The sale to Charlie's Produce, however, is a very good match for the Port and the company, said Charlie Sheldon, Managing Director of the Port's Seaport Division.

Sheldon said, "Charlie's Produce helps support some of our core businesses, such as the cruise ship and fishing industries. They are a good fit because they want to have an equity position in the industrial real estate market here in Seattle and they have an interest in making capital investments that will boost the economy."

Charlie's Produce has approximately 1,200 employees, of whom about 500 will work at the Terminal 106 site.

The Port retains 500,000 square feet of warehouse space and 31 acres at Terminal 106.