The Port of Pasco will spend a minimum of $20.8 million to more than double the size of its quickly filling Reimann Industrial Center.

Port officials recently closed a purchase and sale agreement with Pasco-based agriculture company Balcom & Moe for land adjacent to Reimann, according to sale documents. The port has taken possession of an initial 73 acres, purchased for $7.2 million. The remaining 251 acres will be completed in two closings by 2030.

The deal was two years in the making with extensive negotiations between the port and Balcom & Moe, which sold the original 300 acres at Reimann to the port in 2019.  But with high interest in land at the industrial center, additional acreage was needed to meet demand, port officials have said.

Evidence of a deal between the port and Balcom & Moe first became evident in late September, when port commissioners unanimously approved directing Executive Director Adam Lincoln to pursue an agreement for the land next to Reimann. Commissioners also discussed a minimum purchase price in a closed-door session. 

“In just six years, the port has sold 150 acres to Darigold and has another 82 acres under contract or actively under negotiations,” according to a port memo to commissioners at the time. 

Darigold logistics partner LTI Inc. and Cold Summit, a cold storage provider, also have plans to develop facilities at Reimann. 

The specific properties the port is buying are tax parcels 124680015 and 124680041, located immediately east of the industrial center. Both parcels, which are currently irrigated farmland, have frontage along Highway 395, potentially providing improved access to that highway for Reimann’s existing and future tenants.

The port bought the first 73 acres for $99,000 per acre. The remaining 251 acres are currently priced at $80,000 per acre, with the port needing to close on the next 165 acres by April 2028 and the last 86 acres by November 2030.

However, the price per acre will increase 2% per year until those parts of the sale are closed. That means the port could end up paying an additional $1.25 million over the current base price if it holds off on acquiring the remaining acreage for the longest extent allowed by the contract.