WAREHOUSEPALOOZA!

by Michelle Mood                                 

  • 2.5 million square feet planned for South Tacoma  by Bridge Point Industrial
  • 2.0 million square feet planned for Milton by Bridge Point Industrial
    • 1 million sq. ft. already under construction
  • 2.3 million square feet planned in Fredrickson “FRED310 Phase 1”
  • Total of 6.8 million square feet of new construction for Pierce County!

A recent publication in The News Tribune shocked us with the news of the enormous new warehouse complex planned for Fredrickson, near Spanaway. Already we have been struggling to understand how other proposed distribution centers would affect various aspects of life, traffic, carbon output, pollution, water sustainability and so on. Now the size of this warehouse invasion into our lives has just been biggerized.

What will 6.8 million square feet of new warehouse distribution centers do to us?

Industry publications that estimate traffic generated by high-cube, just-in-time and customer delivery typical of these high-cube distribution warehouses is about 4,400-4,800 daily new vehicle trips per 1 million square feet of warehouse.

That equals roughly from 29,900 to 32,600 new vehicle trips on our roads each day.

Almost 30,000 new vehicle trips DAILY.

And that’s not all!

The FRED310 promotional website notes that it “offers potential of 4 million square feet” total, or an additional 1.7 square feet or 7,500-8,100 more vehicles. That’s about a total 37,400 to 40,700 of new vehicle trips, for those who are counting.

Of course, the county already has a lot of warehouses, including the nice new space also in Fredrickson, a 479,000 square foot warehouse, “Fredrickson One Industrial Park,” by Barghausen. I was unable to find enough address information to see if that was new or part of FRED310, but it definitely is already functioning, while industry appears to be clamoring for space — FRED310 Phase 1 has a lease signed already for an occupant to use 1.1 million square feet.

From their website, when I added up the numbers, FRED310 Phase 1 showcases plans for 2,353,899 square feet.

But then FRED310’s Phase 2 bumps up the planned development to 2,948,647 square feet. That adds another 650,000 square feet already fully planned.

Location, location, location! 

The promotional materials for FRED310 are glowing about our traffic patterns, so conducive to making money using more and more and more trucking:

  • 9.1 miles to I-5 
  • 14.3 miles to Port of Tacoma 
  • 43.3 miles to Port of Seattle 
  • 28.1 miles to Sea-Tac 
  • Served by rail 

And there are other advantages touted, as we are told to “take advantage of the following incentives and operational savings:

  • No Personal State Income Tax
  • No Corporate Income Tax
  • No Inventory Tax
  • No Sales or Use Tax on Machinery and Equipment Used in Manufacturing Operations
  • No Head Tax
  • Family-Wage Tax Credit
  • Industry-Specific Incentives
  • Workforce Training Grants and Credits
  • Other Project-Specific State and Local Programs”

How will the deterioration of our infrastructure be offset with no tax on corporate or personal state income, no inventory tax, and so on?  How will traffic impact be mitigated with no steady income flow from these businesses? How will we cope with added pollution and stress on our environment?

30,000 to 40,000 more vehicle trips coming up from Spanaway/Fredrickson, from South Tacoma, from Milton, and so on – how will our county and King County function? How will we commute? How will the county and city meet targets for zero carbon emissions, for zero traffic fatalities?

What does Pierce County have to say about traffic and FRED310?

“The industrial/warehouse/office proposal is currently being reviewed for traffic impacts under the traffic impact analysis.  This is a large study requiring input from numerous public agencies and the public.  A timeframe for the completion of this study is unknown at this time.  We will keep this site updated with the most current information as it becomes available.  We anticipate than environmental determination to be issued upon approval of a final traffic impact analysis and it will include any mitigation measures that are a result of the traffic study. At this time, no public hearings are anticipated or required.”

We wonder whether this traffic is being discussed with the City of Tacoma and other points north since almost all these listed roads, rails and ports are north of Fredrickson. Are the estimated loads on the road from Milton and South Tacoma being factored into traffic determinations by the County and the City?

Who is overseeing the overall effect of this warehousepalooza?

What will 2025 look like?