Financial terms of the lease were not released, however in 2008, a subsidiary of Polaris purchased a separate 12.4 acre site within the Port of Long Beach for just more than $15 million to use for importing sand and gravel.
The 8.3-acre D-44 facility is located on one of the port's deepwater channels and is currently permitted to receive and distribute up to 3 million tons of construction aggregates per year. Polaris has said it plans to use Panamax vessels to deliver sand and gravel to the Long Beach site from Polaris's Orca Quarry situated on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Polaris also exports aggregate material from its Orca Quarry to port facilities in San Francisco, Vancouver and Hawaii.
Permitting and development of the D-44 terminal are expected to take about two years with first deliveries from the Orca Quarry expected to arrive by the end of 2012.
"We are delighted to have secured access to this permitted marine aggregate terminal within the Port of Long Beach. The terminal will serve the highly populated Los Angeles market area which has always been a key target in our strategic plans. Berth D-44 will require much lower capital investment for development than the [12.4-acre] Pier B site and offers lower operating costs. As a consequence, we commenced the marketing of the Pier B site during the second quarter of 2010 and are encouraged by the significant interest received to date," said Polaris President and CEO Herb Wilson.
The two Long Beach Polaris sites sit within the Port of Long Beach boundaries but are not controlled by the municipally governed port authority. The sites are two of only a handful of privately-owned plots within the jurisdiction of the City of Long Beach's Harbor Department. Like all commercial ports in California, the Long Beach port is owned by the state and operated by the city under trust.
