Developer Panattoni set to meet with Tumwater officials about first building proposal
Update: A port spokeswoman reached out to The Olympian Wednesday morning to say the commission is now not going to vote Oct. 25 on a development agreement between the port and city of Tumwater. A new date has not been announced.
A long-awaited land-use proposal for a 200-acre site in Tumwater owned by the Port of Olympia is about to unfold Thursday morning, city information shows.
That’s when representatives of Panattoni Development Company — a Southern California-based business that has an office in Tacoma — will pitch and get feedback on a 450,000-square-foot building proposal. Panattoni is calling the project the South Sound Commerce Center. It has been proposed at 7901 Center St. SW.
A year ago, the Port of Olympia commission voted 2-1 to approve a lease option agreement with Panattoni for the 200-acre site. The agreement allows Panattoni to explore potential development on the site before committing to a long-term ground lease with the port.
Whether the 450,000-square-foot building proposal results in a ground lease is still to be determined, but the developer has taken the next step with Tumwater by submitting a preliminary site plan review application for the building.
The city’s site plan review process takes time and ends with formal review and formal approval, Community Development Director Mike Matlock said.
“This is a routine process, it’s a phased process and this doesn’t mean they are going to get a permit anytime soon to build any of this,” he said. “There’s a lot of work between here and there.”
If the developer receives formal approval, developers can then seek permits, including building permits, for their projects, he said.
There’s an added wrinkle to this proposal, Matlock said.
Panattoni is proposing the first building project on 30 acres. A legal parcel hasn’t been created for the building, so the developer will have to create that parcel and others through the binding site plan process, he said.
“They have some work to do before it gets formally approved,” he said.
Meanwhile, a separate process related to the 200-acre site is playing out between the port and Tumwater. The two sides are trying to hammer out a development agreement for the overall site. A development agreement is an over-arching document that will lock in development expectations for the site over the life of the project.
The port commission has yet to vote on the development agreement and the city of Tumwater is still reviewing the agreement, spokeswoman Ann Cook said.
Port spokeswoman Jennie Foglia-Jones reached out to The Olympian Wednesday morning to say the commission is now not going to vote Oct. 25 on a development agreement between the port and city of Tumwater.
A new date has not been announced, she said.
Tumwater City Council is tentatively set to receive a briefing on the agreement on Nov. 9, Cook said.
This story was originally published October 19, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
