By Mark Edward Nero
Longtime Port of Vancouver USA tenant Subaru of America Inc. has extended its lease with the port until at least 2030. The port’s Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the lease extension May 26.
Without the time addition, Subaru’s lease would have expired Aug. 31, 2020. The extension means Subaru will remain with the port until at least Aug. 31, 2030, with two five-year options that could take the lease to 2040.
Revenue to Vancouver USA over the remainder of the lease is expected to exceed $7 million, according to the port.
About 150 Subaru and Auto Warehousing employees work at the port to process vehicles for sale in the US. They install a variety of accessories and perform high-quality control checks to prepare the vehicles for transport by truck or rail.
About 60 percent of Subarus processed at the port are loaded onto rail cars provided and serviced by BNSF Railway, while the rest are transported by truck. United Road Services, another port tenant, transports vehicles by truck to dealers in the Pacific Northwest.
“I was here working at the port when the first Subaru rolled off the ship,” Commission president Nancy Baker said. “It’s grown so much, and we celebrated our one-millionth car last summer.”
Subaru leases about 40 acres from the Port of Vancouver, and has imported, processed and transported vehicles at the port since 1992. In 2014, Subaru processed 81,718 vehicles in Vancouver, an 18 percent rise over 2013.
