Boeing land sale tops Pierce County high-priced property list

A recent sale of land involving undeveloped Frederickson plots owned by The Boeing Co. resulted in the most expensive transaction so far this year in Pierce County.

According to a package and sales list received from the Pierce County valuator-treasurer’s office in response to questions, the county’s best sales for the year don’t come close to the Sept. 14 sale of the nearly 310 acres for $ 200 million.

The sale of the Tacoma Supply Chain Center industrial site in Frederickson on July 15 for $ 114.4 million at Dalfen Industriel, was the next most expensive sale, according to the listing.

This is followed by individual sales of five commercial multi-family apartments, including:

â–ª Surprise Lake Village, Milton, for $ 106 million, September 8.

â–ª Avana Hamptons, Puyallup, for $ 66.2 million, Aug.11.

â–ª Citizen & Oake Apartments, Lakewood, for $ 60 million, September 1.

â–ª The Outlook Apartments, Graham, for $ 55 million, March 9.

â–ª Avana Chestnut Hills, Puyallup, for $ 45.2 million on Aug.11.

The plots that Boeing has owned for more than 30 years are adjacent to two large industrial sites of Boeing, Skin and Spar and the Composite Manufacturing Center.

As reported by The News Tribune previously when the acreage first went on sale in March, Skin and Spar produces large primary aluminum structural components for Boeing commercial jets. The Composite Manufacturing Center manufactures and assembles composite components for the Boeing 777, Boeing 777X and Boeing 787.

Boeing sold the undeveloped area to commercial real estate company Panattoni Development Co. as part of a larger cycle of Boeing real estate sales in the region.

According to a preliminary letter from applicant filed with county, several large industrial buildings are planned as well as internal private roads to serve the site.

Jessica Kowal, media representative for Boeing, told The News Tribune by email that with respect to the sale, “There is no impact on the operations of the site.”

She referred to the October 2020 statements made by then CFO Greg Smith. Smith noted the severe impact of the pandemic on the commercial aviation industry as well as on Boeing. At the time, Smith said, “We are looking at every piece of land, every building, every lease, every warehouse, every site to see how we can be more efficient …”.

Kowal said about 850 employees work at the Frederickson site.

The sale rivals that of Pierce County that took place in 2020: The Cubes to DuPont for $ 221 million.

Editor-in-chief Josephine Peterson contributed to this report.

This story was originally published September 19, 2021 5:00 a.m.