By Karen Robes Meeks
The Port of Grays Harbor will soon own a 55-acre property in Aberdeen–the former site of the 520 Floating Bridge Construction project – that will prove advantageous to its operations.
The port won the property – which has sat idle since the 2015 completion of the project – after submitting a $4.52 million bid at a recent auction on the former Pontoon Casting Basin at the Washington State Department of Transportation’s surplus property.
The port commission has given Executive Director Gary Nelson the authority to move forward on the contract, which requires a 15 percent down payment and spans 20 years at 8 percent.
“We are excited to add this strategic piece of property to the Port’s portfolio,” shared Commission President Jack Thompson. “There is no other piece of property on the Harbor with rail access and industrial waterfront adjacent to the port’s existing marine terminal operations. The pontoon site has long been considered by the port as a strategic piece of property to increase the community’s international trade position. By applying the port’s business model of working with private investors to develop sites we are confident the property will be back to generating economic activity for the community soon.”
