Port of Tacoma looks to sell massive Thurston County property to mining company
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Port of Tacoma entered purchase-sale agreement for Maytown site with Miles Sand & Gravel.
- The port originally bought the site for $21.25 million and spent millions on cleanup.
- The port said the sale, if completed, will remove a nonperforming asset from the books.
A Puyallup sand-and-gravel firm is the latest entity proposing to take on more than 700 acres of Port of Tacoma property in Thurston County.
It marks the third time the port has made moves to offload the 745-acre site historically known as the port’s “Maytown property” after initially entering into an unsuccessful joint venture with Port of Olympia to develop the acreage two decades ago.
If successful this time, the sale will take in millions of dollars less than what the port originally spent to acquire the site in southern Thurston County, approximately 2.5 miles east of Interstate 5 on Tilley Road Southwest.
Port officials still see the deal, if completed, as a win to finally get the site and related expenses off its books, as well as meet its legal obligation to sell.
An interlocal agreement initially allowed the Port of Tacoma to buy the property; state law prohibits a port from operating in another port’s jurisdiction without authorization. The ports’ agreement ended in 2008.
“I think it’s a good solution for all of us,” Port of Tacoma Commission Vice President Deanna Keller said at the commission’s April 21 session when the deal won approval.
In the latest deal, Miles Sand & Gravel is entering a purchase-and-sale agreement with the port for $17.25 million for the acreage, appraised at $20 million in 2024, according to a presentation to the port.
Site history and other attempts at selloffs
The property’s gravel-mining permit, which the port maintained through the years, designates the mine areas as “mineral lands of long-term commercial significance” under the Growth Management Act, according to the port, and allows extraction of 20.6 million cubic yards of gravel.
The port acquired the property, once home to a munitions plant, in 2006 for $21.25 million as a potential site for an inland logistics center and rail system enhancements per an interlocal agreement with the Port of Olympia for joint development.
According to a report in The Olympian in 2010, the center was meant to speed delivery of cargo to and from the ports and ease truck traffic on I-5. Instead of driving to and from the ports, truckers could load or unload cargo at the center using railcars for eventual overseas or domestic shipments.
Port of Tacoma later spent additional millions in cleanup, monitoring and site work.
The plan never came to fruition, and the interlocal agreement was later terminated. Tacoma port officials in 2010 approved the property for surplus and sale to Maytown Sand & Gravel, LLC.
That purchase was structured to include $8.5 million in cash, $8.5 million in sand and gravel, interest income at 7 percent over the term of the sale contract and proceeds from any future sale of smaller pieces of the property, according to a port news release at the time.
The sale was “expected to recoup somewhere between $23 million and $30 million over the 20-year term of the sales contract,” the announcement noted.
The property was relinquished to the port in 2013, and the failed redevelopment was the focus of legal action involving the port, the gravel firm and Thurston County over mining-permit delays.
In 2018, another purchase and sale agreement was executed, this time with warehouse developer NorthPoint Development of Kansas City, which offered the port $24.8 million.
The NorthPoint deal fell apart in 2021 after a required zoning reclassification was denied, along with continued pushback from neighbors and environmental groups.
In an online description of the mining areas on the land, the port notes that “The mine project boundary and the eight mine areas were designed to exclude the creeks, wetland, stands of Oregon white oak, and identified native outwash prairie.”
Sharron Coontz of the Friends of Rocky Prairie environmental group spoke to the commission at the April 21, 2026 session during public comment, referencing an earlier settlement agreement and a monitoring/reclamation plan tied to the site’s special-use permit.
“Our hope (is) that the folks involved in the new project will ... follow the plan laid out to protect the area, which is reclaiming it to ponds and wildlife habitat completely,” she told the commission.
Miles Sand & Gravel’s website describes the company as a fifth-generation family-owned operation that started in Auburn in the 1940s. It has facilities in nine western Washington counties – from the Canadian border to Chehalis, according to its website. It supplies both aggregate and concrete to its customers, and noted that “Our concrete products can be found in roads, bridges, commercial projects, and residential developments throughout the region.”
The website also noted it “mines aggregates from some of the most naturally resource-rich sites in Western Washington.”
In an emailed statement, company executive Lisa Kittilsby told The News Tribune in response to questions, “We are currently in the due diligence period ... . This time frame includes site and document review.”
Kittilsby added that the company “has had a presence in Thurston County for several decades. We have been good stewards of the land and have provided gainful employment to many local residents.
“We look forward to working with Thurston County and the Port of Tacoma as we pursue this exciting opportunity.”
Groups who were against commercial development of the site had hoped that the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife would take on some or all of the site, since the department has adjacent land to the east and southeast.
Port officials noted at the April meeting that though DFW had been given the first opportunity to buy the property, a full agreement could not be reached.
A media representative for the department confirmed with The News Tribune via email that the state and the port were unable to agree on a price.
Financial outcome
According to the action memorandum presented to the commission, “While the proposed purchase price is below the appraised value, it delivers the strongest overall value when considering the terms and the port’s strategic objectives.”
It added that the sale, if completed, “will remove a nonperforming asset from the port’s balance sheet, eliminate the costs of maintaining the site’s permits, and satisfy the port’s obligation to sell the property per the terms of the interlocal agreement with the Port of Olympia.”
According to a financial summary presented at the Port of Tacoma Commission’s April 21 meeting, “The current net book value of this property is $7,840,000. An unbudgeted gain on sale will be recorded in 2026 upon completion of the sale.”
What’s next
The company met its earnest-money deposit deadline of April 28 and the due diligence phase of the buying process is ongoing, according to port media communications.
The due diligence period runs through Aug. 20 and can have three consecutive extensions (with additional fees), at 30 days each, eventually closing on or before approximately Dec. 22.
Port commission President Dick Marzano recalled the initial land purchase during the commission’s April 21 meeting, noting that “20 years ago, the port at that time, along with the port commission of Olympia, made the decision to purchase the property in what we believed at the time was the right decision. And if we go back to that date, I’d still say the same type of thing.”
“I am glad we’re moving in this area, and I want to thank the real estate department for bringing it to us,” he added.
Previous reporting by The News Tribune and The Olympian contributed to this report.
