Wednesday, Jan. 17, the Port of Centralia unanimously approved the 10th and final amendment to its purchase and sale agreement with WinCo Foods for the Centralia Station development. Once completed, it will be located just off the Mellen Street exit of Interstate 5. “It recognizes the boundary line adjustment and improvements now completed and alleviates any post-closing obligations for either party,” Port of Centralia Executive Director Kyle Heaton said. Heaton added port staff planned to close the purchase and sale agreement that afternoon, though weather might cause delays. Both the port’s and WinCo’s attorney reviewed and approved the amendment. “Thank you for all the hard work,” Port of Centralia Commissioner Julie Shaffley said. “This has been years in the making, and this is exciting. Exciting for the port and exciting for the community.”
The Chronicle spoke with Port of Centralia Commissioner Kyle Markstrom on Thursday, Jan. 18, who confirmed the purchase and sale agreement had been closed that day. As for the next steps, Markstrom explained WinCo is now awaiting approval of construction permits from the City of Centralia and anticipated the permitting process to take between 30 to 60 days.
“What I’ve been told from WinCo is as soon as they get their permits back from the city, they will start the groundwork,” Markstrom said. Centralia Station is a Port of Centralia project developing a shopping center complex featuring WinCo — a 24 hours a day warehouse-style supermarket chain that sells bulk food items — as the anchor tenant.
The project is being carried out in three phases, with the first two revolving around the construction of the South Yew Street extension and then Art Lehmann Drive, connecting South Yew Street to the I-5 Mellen Street overpass. Now that the first two phases are complete and the purchase and sale agreement finalized, WinCo will carry out the final phase once permitting is complete — construction of the supermarket and shopping complex.
