Potential buyers of a 745-acre industrial site that the Port
of Tacoma is looking to sell have a little more time to put in a bid. The
proposal deadline for the Thurston County property has been extended from Dec.
6 to Jan. 17.
The port bought the property near Maytown in 2006 for $21.25
million as a potential site for rail system enhancements. However, because of
political resistance to the port’s idea of using the site as a rail marshaling
yard for trains bound to and from the port, the land was sold for about $8.5
million in cash and another $8.5 million in sand and gravel, in 2010.
However the purchaser, mining company Maytown Sand &
Gravel, relinquished the property to the port in early October 2013 after
deciding it could no longer operate the site.
Company principal Steve Cortner announced the decision in an
Oct. 3 letter to Port of Tacoma which said Thurston County’s delay in issuing a
special-use permit was among the main reasons the company was giving the
property back to the port.
“This horrible delay completely depleted our working capital
and we have not been able to recover so that we can make required payments to
the port,” Cortner wrote at the time.
The port says the deadline extension for bids is to give
those who might not have time to put together a proposal during the holiday
season more of an opportunity to participate in the process.
