Bridge Industrial Secures $413M for Tacoma Industrial Park

Bridge Industrial has snagged $413 million in financing to build a 2.5 million-square-foot industrial campus in Tacoma, south of Seattle.

The Chicago-based developer secured the money to stand up distribution warehouses at 5802 South Burlington Way, in Nalley Valley, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported.

Plans for the future Bridge Point Tacoma 2MM call for four buildings between 335,000 and 960,000 square feet on land once owned by BNSF Railway, five miles from the Port of Tacoma.

Bank OZK, based in Arkansas, made a $263 million construction loan on Jan. 31.

Los Angeles-based Mesa West Capital and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, based in New York, made a $150 million mezzanine loan. The loan has a five-year, interest-only term.

Together, the $413 million in loans equates to total loan-to-cost financing of 65 percent, according to Mesa West, putting the expected project cost at more than $635 million.

The interest rates for the loans were not disclosed.

“Upon completion, Bridge Point Tacoma will offer tenants premium, Class A industrial space in an ideal location near the Port of Tacoma and Interstate 5,” Josh Westerberg, executive director of Mesa West Capital, said in a statement.

“There is very little supply in the greater Seattle-Tacoma industrial market that offers top-quality Class A bulk distribution product in a location such as this,” he added. “Bridge Point Tacoma will command premier rents in the marketplace.”

Will Milam, head of U.S. investments for Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, said the development is among the few of its size expected to break ground this year.

Bridge Industrial, which has an office in Bellevue, bought the 150-acre site in September 2021 for $158 million. Environmental mitigations and infrastructure improvements will be required for the project to move forward.

The developer expected the development to be open for tenants by the end of last year. The project, however, has had to overcome several hurdles, including pushback from neighbors concerned about traffic and environmental impacts.

Founded in 2000, Bridge Industrial has invested $15.8 billion in industrial real estate, including 273 buildings containing 74 million square feet, according to its website. Its primary markets are in the U.S. and the U.K.

— Dana Bartholomew