Tesla, Inc., is further establishing its presence in the Pacific Northwest. The electric car manufacturer has signed a lease for almost 115,000 square feet of space in Renton, according to a report from the Puget Sound Business Journal. The building was formerly occupied by Ryerson, a metal processing and distribution firm, and Tesla plans to use the site as a service and collision center.
Located at 600 SW 10th St., the 114,531 square foot asset was constructed in 1975 and is positioned on a 10-acre lot. The property is located just off of Highway 405 and State Route 167, and is minutes from downtown Renton. Immediately surrounding the property are a number of retailers, such as the Renton Shopping Center, anchored by Fred Meyers, D K Market and Walmart. Boeing and Amazon Flex both occupy buildings just on the other side of the highway from the site.
Elion Partners is the building’s owner, according to previous reporting from The Registry. The firm acquired the warehouse in 2021 for $27.65 million, or about $241 per square foot. The seller was Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc., based in Chicago.
In recent months, Tesla has been working to gain a footing in the Puget Sound region.
Earlier this year, the company leased a 245,000 square foot building in Marysville’s Cascade Industrial Center. That facility, located at 16015 51st Ave. NE, will serve as a parts and assembly plant for the electric car maker, making it Tesla’s first plant in the Pacific Northwest. The 5.1 million square foot Cascade Industrial Center is a joint development for industry in Marysville and Arlington and is expected to create 11,600 jobs by 2040. The NorthPoint Development’s Cascade Business Park, which houses the Tesla building, is planned to eventually include a nine-building, 4 million square foot complex on 426 acres.
According to a Kidder Mathews third quarter report, the Puget Sound region saw significant growth for the industrial market in the third quarter of 2023, driven largely by substantial gains in the Pierce County submarket – where Tesla’s Marysville building is located – which saw an increase of 3.34 million square feet in occupied space. The entire region added 3.1 million square feet of industrial space, resulting in a vacancy rate of 4.9 percent, marking a 50-basis point decrease from the previous quarter.
Overall, the region saw an additional 3.09 million square feet added to the supply in the third quarter, bringing the total to 371.4 million square feet. Construction activity has decreased by 36.8 percent, with 6.66 million square feet under construction across 39 projects. Sales activity included closing 37 properties this quarter, totaling $172 million, with an average price of $232.4 per square foot and an average capitalization rate of 6.07 percent, marking a 7.2 percent increase over the previous quarter.
