About the warehouse
This warehouse will wreak havoc on South Tacoma.
The City of Tacoma and Bridge Industrial (BI), a property management company based out of Chicago, have approved the building of a massive mega warehouse complex for South Tacoma. If built, it would have an expected size of 2.5 million sq. ft., and would be ranked among the top 10 largest warehouses in the world, bringing in up to 10,000 semi-truck and other vehicle trips A DAY, and eliminating 124 acres of wetland and green space. Check out this map a local retired architect made to demonstrate the scale and impact of this project.
Unlike similar mega warehouse projects in nearby cities, the City of Tacoma has not required an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from BI, which would inform Tacoma citizens of the environmental risks and require BI to implement mitigation strategies. The City has also not pushed for a Health Impact Assessment (HIA). Without an EIS or an HIA, surrounding communities are left in the dark about the impact of this project on their future, though some impacts are almost guaranteed based on analysis of other mega warehouse projects.
Why is this warehouse bad for our community?
- Local unions UFCW local 367 and Joint Council of Teamsters no. 28 oppose this project. The jobs this warehouse would generate cannot guarantee good pay, safety, or equity. Robots & automation would do most of the work [source].
- The proposed site is on an old aquifer that provides up to 40% of our drinking water during droughts. And that's just for people - trees, animals, bugs, and the ecosystem depend on this water too. Check out this map that shows the warehouse sits entirely on top of the aquifer.
- The increased truck traffic will bring relentless traffic snarls and delays, and increase air and noise pollution [source].
- According to the City's equity maps, this area is one of the most undeserved and polluted neighborhoods in the city (the result of redlining - check out this redlining map). This area contains less tree canopy (map), lower average incomes, and poorer health outcomes than the rest of Tacoma. This is the wrong choice for a neighborhood that the city should be working to make more livable, not degrade further.
- South Tacoma does not need more warehouses. There are lots of existing warehouse already sitting empty in Tacoma - check out this map that shows only warehouses with listed vacancies [source].
- Warehouses of this scale present greater risk to companies that lease the space, since the cost risk of fires or other natural disasters increases dramatically [source].
- Read more at 350tacoma.org.
More about the warehouse:
- What You Should Know About the Bridge Industrial South Tacoma Warehouse Project (Earth Justice)
- Op-Ed: South Tacoma Mega Warehouse Exemplifies Environmental Racism (The Urbanist)
- Neighbors concerned about mega-warehouse proposed in South Tacoma (King5)
- Mega Warehouse Permitted for South Tacoma (350 Tacoma)
- Controversial Tacoma warehouse proposal moves forward (NWPB)
- Warehouse Pits Locals Against Developers (Tacoma Weekly)
Other mega warehouses
Similar mega warehouse projects have caused immense harm.
Why are there so many mega warehouses popping up?
Mega warehouse complexes are being built all over the world primarily in response to global demand for online shopping. These massive buildings provide space for large businesses to store their products before shipping to customers. Companies like Amazon have set a competitive precedent for fast shipping, which increases the pressure on other retailers to follow suit in order to stay in business [source].
Some existing mega warehouses include the 1.5 million sq. ft. Walmart Distribution Center in Arizona, the 2.8 million sq. ft. Nike Distribution Center in Tennessee, and the 10+ million sq. ft. Tesla Factory in Texas, the largest in the world as of 2024. If built, the Tacoma mega warehouse would have an expected size of 2.5 million sq. ft, ranking just above the Walmart Distribution Center.
The trend of mega warehouses takes a huge toll on the communities surrounding them. Residents have complained about "increased air pollution from truck traffic; the gush of increased stormwater; environmental justice conflicts; traffic woes; noise and light pollution; loss of farmland; and the abrupt change in community character" [source]. These concerns raise questions: is faster online shopping worth it? Are the interests of big businesses paying off for the community in the long run? The communities living near mega warehouses rarely receive the benefit of faster shipping and bear the burden of increased pollution that increases rates of asthma and lowers live expectancy [source].
Slowed or Halted Mega Warehouse Projects
- Riverwoods Village, IL - In September 2023, the small community of Riverwoods Village, Illinois successfully stopped Bridge Industrial from turning a 101 acre office park into an enormous warehouse and logistics center. [Read more]
- Puyallup, WA - In 2014, the first plans were laid for a massive industrial complex on 160 acres of farmland just outside Puyallup City limits. Since then, the City has successfully implemented an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to provide an objective analysis of the proposed development and offer mitigation strategies to prevent harm to the local community. [Read more]
Thoughtful Alternatives
We dream of beautiful parks, community buildings, shops, walking paths...
[Photo courtesy of Michelle Mood (via NWPB.org)]
We strive to stop this warehouse because we DREAM. The space in jeopardy is a part of a historic watershed. On this plot of land that is the size of over 50 football fields, there is a lush and established green space that could become a park, a space for affordable and environmentally sustainable housing, and more! The community has such powerful dreams for this space and we intend to make those things a reality.
There is a balance to be found between economic growth, sustainability, and community character. We can build a Community Blueprint that involves all voices in the effort to leave behind a better world for future generations.
But what if we still need warehouses?
The City of Tacoma and Bridge Industrial have yet to prove that the mega warehouse would provide a net benefit to our community. Furthermore, there is already an abundance of leasable warehouse space in the same area that Bridge Industrial wants to develop [source]. These warehouses sit unused and will continue to be unused if even more warehouses are allowed in our city. CASS has yet to see the City of Tacoma make an effort to prove that this warehouse serves a functional need for its residents, and it has excluded local residents from the conversation.
Share your ideas!
What would you like to see built here? Visit our Contact Us page and share your vision for this space, or connect with us about anything else.
The Warehouse is big but We are bigger
Join Climate Alliance of the South Sound and fight this racist, dangerous, and unnecessary project!