SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane County Board of Commissioners voted on Tuesday, September 17 to approve the sale of around 82 acres of surplus land near the Spokane International Airport.
The proposed manufacturing site is located at the southeast corner of the McFarlane Road and Craig Road intersection.
At the board meeting, commissioners said the land would be sold to a manufacturing company, Runway Properties Holding, LLC that would create jobs in the area.
Commissioner Al French didn't say what company was behind Runway Property Holding. According to the Washington Secretary of State Filing, the principal address for Runway Property Holding is the same address associated with the headquarters of Soprema, Inc.
Soprema has a line of different services like commercial roofing, waterproofing, wall protection and civil engineering. Soprema has over 50 plants and has a presence in close to 90 countries.
The proposal claims that the company requires railroad line access to import building materials and chose the airport location based on the available access. The County has yet to decide on a rail access easement.
The proposal says the company was seeking a location in the Northwest so that finished products can be shipped by truck to locations across the Pacific Northwest and Canada.
In the meeting, commissioners said the Federal Aviation Administration has already released the land to the airport, but approval from the County and the City of Spokane is required before moving forward with the closing of the sale.
The proposal says the company has put down a deposit of $60,000 in earnest money. The purchase price of the land will be $72,561 per acre, totaling at $5,950,002.
Commissioners outlined that Runway Properties Holdings, LLC will reimburse up to $25,000 in specific segregation costs and fees.
"It'll also be a benefit to the County because we own the Geiger Spur rail line," said County Commissioner Al French at the meeting. "There's fees to both the airport on their rail line as well as to the County rail line that helps maintain that rail line."
Spokane International Airport CEO, Larry Krauter, the money from the deal would be considered unrestricted cash. With unrestricted cash, the airport can fund non-grant improvement projects.
Commissioner French says that if everything goes according to plan, construction could begin as early as this year or the beginning of next year.