Oct. 30—The Port of Coos Bay could soon own the former Georgia Pacific mill site, with the goal of turning it into a shipping facility in the near future.
Just days after the board of directors for the port voted unanimously to allow CEO John Burns to negotiate the purchase of the former mill site, the port announced it had reached an agreement with current owner CDC, Inc., to buy the land.
The goal is to build a shipping facility in Coos Bay where ships will unload goods at the location, which will then be shipped throughout Oregon and the Northwest by train and truck.
The purchase agreement includes a 60-day period for both sides to conduct due diligence, with the goal of closing the sale by the end of the year.
If the sale closes at that time, the port hopes to have the facility operating at least partially early in 2023.
Burns said the move was intended as a means of creating strong jobs in the community, which has lost similar jobs due to the closure of the mill in 2019 and the recently-announced closure of the Shutter Creek Correctional Institute.
"With this facility back in service, it is anticipated that it will bring with it the addition of well-paying family wage jobs to the area including longshore labor, yard workers and cargo handlers, as well as additional rail line crews," said Burns.
While presenting the idea of buying the property to the board, Burns said the port frequently receives calls from companies interested in offloading in the region. With no terminal in the Coos Bay region, the port has been forced to send the companies elsewhere.
Margaret Barber, director of external affairs and business development for the port, said there is a great need for additional shipping facilities, and the port hopes to fill that need.
"We've just been inundated, especially in the last couple of years, with what's happening in the shipping market," she said. "The challenge the port has had is we didn't own wharf. This is going to give us the opportunity to facilitate them."
Burns said with the idea of opening a facility as soon as 2023, the port is working with multiple companies that are interested in moving goods through the port. For many, a new terminal would help avoid congestion and high costs related to the other terminal facilities.
Locally, it could begin to turn around a trend of good jobs leaving the community.
"I think we look at this as an opportunity to regenerate jobs that have been lost," Barber said.
The GP mill site is ideal for a shipping terminal, Burns said, because it is large enough at 162 acres, has direct access to the bay and its shipping channels and direct access to the Coos Bay rail line, which the port also owns. Before products can begin shipping, upgrades to the rail line on site will need to be made. Much of the cost of the rail infrastructure will be paid for by the federal government after Congressman Peter DeFazio announced recently he had included $4.5 million in the reconciliation bill to be used for rail infrastructure as well as improvements to the wharf infrastructure on site.