September 24, 2024

Port of Tacoma seeks help planning its future

Photo from Port of Tacoma website [enlarge]

The Port of Tacoma’s 2,500 acres include several major container terminals and maritime and industrial business and facilities in the Tacoma Tideflats.

The Port of Tacoma is looking for a consultant to facilitate and develop an update its 2021-2026 Strategic Plan.

The remade strategic plan will include a vision statement and updated foundational goals and strategies, according to the request for proposals, and will help the port explore “new strategies to advance future uses.” A public notice for the project ran in Monday's DJC.

The port, an independent special purpose district in Pierce County, has 2,500 acres on Commencement Bay in south Puget Sound and more than 100 leases, with many of its tenants directly supporting The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), a marine cargo operating partnership of the ports of Tacoma and Seattle. Most of the port's property is in the Tacoma Tideflats, and the port also owns a grain terminal on Schuster Parkway, near downtown Tacoma. About two-thirds of the port's property in the Tideflats is licensed to the NWSA for marine terminal operations, according to the RFP.

About 50 acres of Port of Tacoma land will become available for development after industrial remediation is complete, and the port wants to explore “new strategies to advance future uses” there, including clean energy production and storage, boat building and marine vessel repair, wind energy, auto terminal services, workforce development and tourism, as well as strategic investment outside the Tideflats, according to the RFP.

Image from Maritime Center website [enlarge]

The port is developing its $73 million Maritime Center campus with Tacoma Public Schools.

The Port of Tacoma is in the process of developing a $73 million Maritime Center campus on port-owned property along the east side of the Foss Waterway with Tacoma Public Schools. The 60,000-square-foot Maritime Center will house port business offices, and the Tacoma Public School's new 30,000 to 35,000-square-foot Maritime 253 skills center will help the district educate and train future maritime workers. TCF Architecture is the designer and BNBuilders is contractor. Parametrix is a consultant.

A schedule posted on the Maritime Center project website indicates master planning and design for the buildings will continue to the end of the year. Construction of the port building is scheduled to start in March 2025 and should be finished in December 2026. Construction of the education center is also expected to begin in March, but is slated for completion in July of 2026. Some portions of that property are available for additional development, as previously reported by the DJC.

Strategic plan consultant proposals are due by 2 p.m. on Oct. 18, and final contractor selection will be made Nov. 20. The port wants meaningful internal and external participation in alignment with its Diversity Equity and Inclusion Plan. The port anticipates awarding one personal service contract running for one year, with the option to renew for another year.

The port's senior planning manager will act as the project manager and primary point of contact. The contract will include up to four draft iterations, with a strategic plan presented to the Port Commission for consideration by August of 2025 and the final strategic plan ready to publish on the port's website by the end of 2025.

Related Stories:

• Concept drawings unveiled for Tacoma's $73M Maritime Center  03-22-2024
  
• Concept drawings unveiled for Tacoma's $73M Maritime Center  03-22-2024