The City of Marysville is the new owner of commercial property at the corner of 76th and 47th Avenue NE, the current home of a Coca-Cola bottling plant.

"The City had been in negotiations with the company since 2008," said chief administrative officer Gloria Hirashima. "Terms were finalized early this year."

The property will likely become the home of the city's Public Works department in the future, but for now, Coca-Cola is continuing to lease the building back from the city, as specified in the purchase agreement.

That arrangement will end Sept. 17, when Coca-Cola will close its Marysville distribution center as well as operations in Aberdeen and Bellingham and relocate those functions to other Washington state facilities.

"We were very concerned about the possible impact on local jobs," said Hirashima, "and there was no interest in the purchase if it resulted in the company moving. But Coca-Cola made it clear they had already made a business decision to consolidate their operations at other sites, regardless of the disposition of the Marysville property."

The city paid $3.75 million for the building and large corner lot. Funds for the purchase came from the city's Enterprise account, which is set aside for utility needs, and not from the general operating budget.

"The long-term plan is for this property to be part of the civic campus project," Hirashima explained. "While most municipal offices will be consolidated in the downtown core, there will be a need for an off-site storage and maintenance yard for Public Works, and the Coca-Cola property is a good fit."

Since the consolidation of city offices is currently on hold, the property will be available for lease to another tenant once the bottling operation closes down.

blog comments powered by Disqus