The Pierce County industrial park is increasing its size once again with the purchase of 34.55 acres of land.
The Industrial Development and Building Authority (IDBA) board unanimously voted at their regular February meeting to approve purchasing the parcel of land from Tuten Farms, LLC in the amount of $205,140. The vote took place following a 35 minute closed session toward the end of the Feb. 4 meeting.
“The current plan for this parcel will be to have it rezoned and partitioned to allow for small to medium size business to purchase one of more parcels to build their operation,” says IDBA Executive Director Blake James.
According to qpublic’s website, Tuten Farms, LLC, currently owns five parcels of land in Pierce County. Of the five, the IDBA is purchasing the parcel on Homestead Road, which is near to but not contiguous with the industrial park’s current boundaries. The community of Ayrin Brooke Lane, which is accessed by Dean Still Road, is between the parcel and the rear of those businesses along Sundance Circle in the industrial park. The county board of assessors has the tract valued at $113,442.
James is confident local residents will see this as a good development.
“This will support our local job market and as businesses come to Pierce County it will provide our citizens with quality jobs,” said James.
The IDBA intends for the parcel to be rezoned from agricultural to business/ industrial, which has to be approved first by the planning commission and then the county commission, but James is anticipating no difficulties on that front.
Despite its proximity to the nearby railroad, these parcels will not be equipped with rail access, which is available a little further down Highway 84 at the industrial park proper, where the spur line was completed in 2023.
Asked if the purchase was made with a specific future tenant in mind, James said, “This investment is to provide more marketable property for businesses to come to Pierce County. It is not being purchased with any particular business in mind.”
This is the IDBA’s most recent real estate transaction in the industrial park. In March 2024, the IDBA purchased 32 acres of land on Floyd Drive from Juanita Boatright for $225,000. During that same month the IDBA also sold 10.51 acres on the corner of Bob Bowen Road and Floyd Drive to Brian Tyre of Woodland Construction at a price of $6,000 per acre.
An overhead view of land parcel 036-022, which the Pierce IDBA board plans to subdivide and rezone from agricultural to business/industrial.
