Tacoma port, SSA Marine, Puyallup Tribe sign development deal

Officials from the Tacoma, Wash.-area Puyallup Tribe, the Port of Tacoma, and Seattle-based marine terminal operator SSA Marine on Tuesday signed four key agreements to cooperate in developing a 180-acre container terminal at the port.

Also signing the deal as a separate party was Marine View Ventures, the economic development arm of the Puyallup Tribe.

Under terms of the agreements, SSA and the port will widen the Blair Waterway to a distance of 850 feet at the planned Puyallup/SSA terminal site, which will allow the construction of three deepwater piers at the port's Berths 1-3.

In return for allowing the widening, which will remove 12.5 acres of Puyallup land, the tribe will buy five parcels of port property totaling 19.64 acres to improve the overall layout of the future tribe/SSA terminal. The lost tribal property is estimated to be worth $8.16 million. The property to be sold to the tribe includes 11.2 acres along the widened channel in three parcels valued at a total of $7.3 million, a three-acre parcel valued at $1.3 million, and a 4.24-acre parcel with 1.2 acres of submerged lands with an agreed upon price of $4 million.

The port and SSA also signed a lease agreement that will see the marine terminal operator occupy 23 acres adjacent to the SSA/Puyallup project. The port is already building a berth/wharf at the location to accommodate SSA operations. The port is spending $52 million to develop the SSA site, and when completed the new berth and property will be used in conjunction with the joint tribe/SSA terminal.

An additional agreement also calls for the parties to cooperate on addressing increased road and rail capacity on the peninsula. 

Source: American Shipper