The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Monday approved a $240 million, 20-year lease renewal with Toyota Motor Sales, USA, assuring Long Beach remains a key transportation hub for the automaker through 2028.
The new lease – retroactive to January 1, 2009 – also includes several environmental initiatives for Toyota's 144.5-acre Pier B facility, which handles between 200,000 and 300,000 Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles imported from Japan each year. Toyota first opened a facility at the port in 1981 and last signed a long-term lease in 1990. The lease expired in 2006 and the carmaker has been operating on interim leases since.
The terms of the new lease call for Toyota to pay annual rent of just over $11.2 million in 2011, with incremental increases up to $12.3 million over the next several years.
Toyota will also be required to take measures to decrease air pollution related to its operations, including the use of cleaner fuel by its RO/RO car carrying vessels.
In addition, the lease specifies that virtually all of the automobile delivery big rigs that transport the vehicles out of the terminal will have to comply with strict emission standards by 2014 – similar to requirements already in place for drayage providers at other port terminals under the port's Clean Trucks Program.
Other requirements include the use of energy efficient design on any large buildings constructed on their premises.
The port's five-member governing board gave committee-level approval to the lease on Monday and is expected to give final approval in a vote at its next meeting.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
