Amazon is coming to former Weyerhaeuser campus
By Federal Way Mirror | Keelin Everly-Lang
June 13, 2024
One of two buildings in the former Weyerhaeuser campus in Federal Way will be leased to Amazon, according to announcements by property owner Industrial Realty Group (IRG). The area is now called Woodbridge Corporate Park, 33663 Weyerhaeuser Way S.
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Amazon to Woodbridge Corporate Park and the greater Federal Way community,” said Coby Holley, vice president and asset development manager at IRG, which purchased the 430-acre property in 2016. “Amazon will play a significant role in transforming this incredible property into a vibrant, multi-tenant campus.”
Amazon is leasing Building A, which is about 225,000 square feet. Building B has not been leased yet, according to IRG, and is about 215,000 square feet.
In April, Federal Way applied for an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) in partnership with Pacific Raceways to create a pipeline to develop green jobs. The award request was $147,860 and the funds would be used to support the transformation of 50-100% of Federal Way’s empty 330,000 square feet, according to city economic development director Tanja Carter at the April 16 Federal Way City Council meeting. That award has not been announced, but is just one example of possibilities of who may utilize the space in the future.
City leadership shared confidence that the former headquarters building on the property will be utilized in its current form sometime in the next decade.
“I do believe there are so many people working on that today … that I would be shocked if we can’t find somebody in the next 10 years to re-occupy that space as it is and make it and keep it as a jewel of the city,” Federal Way Community Development Director Keith Niven said of the property.
Community members fought against the initial proposed tenant and against development on the property for years through the Save Weyerhaueser campaign. While they were successful in stopping that particular contract and achieving some environmental and aesthetic goals, core founding member of the activism Suzanne Vargo said she feels like there is just no more momentum to continue to fight.
Despite that frustration, she said that she is proud of what the group did and that their activism work taught them a lot about how to speak up and make change when needed. She cited successful collaboration to save Camp Kilworth and other local projects, like fighting against the original proposed location of the city’s Operations and Maintenance Facility in Steel Lake Park. Camp Kilworth is now being renovated and managed by the YMCA.
In their press release, IRG shared: “In the development of the two industrial buildings, IRG invested approximately $3.5 million to improve the public right of way for new sidewalks, lighting, roadway, landscaping, bike lanes, stormwater systems, and other infrastructure upgrades. Like the buildings currently existing on the Federal Way campus, this new construction at Woodbridge has been blended with the landscape to be consistent with the original vision of the campus’s design.”
The real estate investment company also touted “1,000 temporary jobs and fiscal benefits totaling $18 million in new tax revenue from construction, including local sales-use and Business and Occupation taxes as well as traffic-impact fees paid by IRG. The developments are part of IRG’s intensive efforts to replace jobs and tax revenues lost to the area when Weyerhaeuser abandoned the property for downtown Seattle more than seven years ago.”