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IKEA to buy property from port: Distribution center due in Frederickson
(News Tribune, The (Tacoma, WA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Oct. 25--Swedish furniture retailer IKEA is buying 70 acres in Frederickson from the Port of Tacoma, with plans to build a distribution center that will serve IKEA stores in Washington, Oregon, Utah and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.
The Port of Tacoma commission on Tuesday approved the sale of the property -- on the northeast corner of 38th Avenue East and 200th Street East -- to IKEA for $8.66 million.
Derrick Urquhart, the port's manager of industrial real estate, said the distribution center will create 150 jobs and drive more imported cargo through the port. The distribution center also will add some diversity to the port's Frederickson Industrial Area, which now houses mostly manufacturers such as The Boeing Co., Toray Composites of America and Northwest Door, Urquhart said.
Frederickson's location was the draw for IKEA.
"They really emphasized the infrastructure and proximity to the port," Urquhart said.
Pat Merwin, IKEA's real estate manager, agreed. "Proximity to the port was key for us," Merwin said.
IKEA's plans for new distribution centers follow its expansion.
The company is building a store in Portland, Merwin said. That facility, near the Portland International Airport, is scheduled to open next summer.
The company plans to add three to five stores per year in North America to its current roster of 235 IKEA stores around the world.
Construction is scheduled to begin on the Frederickson facility early next spring, and it could open by the end of 2007.
The deal leaves the port with about 100 acres left for sale in Frederickson. The port bought 500 acres in the area in the late 1960s and early 1970s to use for economic development.
IKEA now has seven distribution centers in North America. An additional one is being built in Georgia.
IKEA also has a store in Renton.
Kelly Kearsley: 253-597-8573
kelly.kearsley@thenewstribune.com
Copyright (c) 2006, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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