Tri-Cities farm sells for $4.4 million for new project. What’s coming next?

The Port of Pasco has paved the way to create another industrial park.

The port finalized its purchase last week of 55 acres for $4.4 million from the Cox Family Land LLC.

The new Pasco Industrial Center Hwy 395 — that will be known as PIC395 — sits on the east side of Highway 395 adjacent to the existing Pasco Processing Center.

The goal for the land is to provide the port some revenue while the infrastructure is being completed on the 300-acre Reimann Industrial Center during the next few years.

“We are very excited to add this new property to the Port’s land portfolio as a shovel-ready industrial park in our region,” said Jim Klindworth, port commission president. “It will help us meet heavy demand for industries that are ready to go while we work on getting the Reimann Industrial Center prepared.”

The land does not have access to a rail system but it already has access to utilities and good road connections — East Foster Wells Road to the north and Capitol Avenue to the east.

“The Cox property was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up,” Port Executive Director Randy Hayden said in a news release. “With all the growth we are seeing in the industrial sector, the Port wanted to have property available to locate new business in Franklin County.”

The land will remain in agricultural production until the port secures a buyer. The land is expected to be annexed into the city in the coming month.

The port bought the property for the Reimann Industrial Center for $6.5 million in 2019 to emulate the success of the Pasco Processing Center.

Earlier this year, the state Department of Commerce approved $7.5 million for infrastructure development at Reimann, as long as the port secures an agreement with a large-scale food processor by Dec. 31, 2022.

The total cost of infrastructure development will be about $15.8 million.

In the next couple of decades, the development could create 2,300 jobs and generate $15 million annually in property taxes. It has nine large parcels ranging from 20 to 40 acres and another 14 from 2 to 7 acres.

The area is north of the port’s 250-acre Pasco Processing Center. Companies now operating there include Americold, ConAgra, Lamb Weston and support for industries such as trucking companies.