A company that planned to build a facility at the Port of Pasco’s Reimann Industrial Center has backed out of the deal. But port officials have already secured another business wanting to buy its lot instead.

The port and Pasco Blue LLC, a pallet manufacturer, recently reached a purchase and sale agreement for Lot No. 5 at Reimann for just over $1.4 million.

The deal isn’t final; Pasco Blue has until Oct. 15 to conduct its due diligence as part of a contractual feasibility period which can be extended twice.

LTI Inc., the company whose Milky Way tankers can be seen ferrying milk from dairies to processors, including Darigold’s facility at Reimann, had previously planned to buy the property.

Port officials said it was unfortunate that LTI ended up not staying at Reimann but they are excited about Pasco Blue and the investment it plans to make in the community.

“They want to go fast,” said Stephen McFadden, the port’s deputy director, adding that work could start on the facility as early as December.

Pasco Blue manufactures pallets for the food and beverage industries. It wants to buy the 10-acre lot with the goal of building a 100,000-square-foot facility that would employ 40 to 50 people, representing a total investment of roughly $18 million.

In addition to the purchase price, Pasco Blue also will be required to reimburse fellow Reimann tenant Cold Summit nearly $260,000 for its construction of roads within the industrial park that are adjacent to the property.

McFadden said LTI’s decision to withdraw was due to timelines not being able to match up. The company has instead set up a local operations center at a site nearby.

Darigold is so far the only tenant that’s built a facility and begun operations at Reimann. Cold storage provider Cold Summit has bought two lots at the industrial park. The company has not released specific plans, but the facility it built on a similarly sized lot in Dallas in 2021 is 343,000 square feet and cost $60 million.

Demand for land at Reimann is strong enough port commissioners agreed to buy an additional 320 acres next to the industrial park from agricultural outfit Balcom & Moe Inc., which sold the initial property for Reimann to the port. McFadden said the port has already had two companies make inquiries about the possibility of securing 200 acres but the port did not pursue them due to the need to properly prepare the new additional acreage for development.

“It’s a big part of our portfolio,” said Adam Lincoln, the port’s executive director. “We get a lot of calls. There’s a lot of excitement around industrial land in the Tri-Cities and there seems to be less and less of it.”