Sale of Boeing Property to Blackstone Affiliate Clears Way for Large Business Park

Boeing sold 54 acres in Kent to the industrial arm of Blackstone, which is planning a business park that will total nearly 808,000 square feet.

Link Industrial Properties, Blackstone’s U.S. industrial arm, and Panattoni paid $60 million for the property in the Pacific Gateway area, according to public records.

It’s unusual for a large development site to sell in the Kent Valley, which is mostly built out. Developers have been setting their sights farther south in Pierce and Thurston counties, where land is more plentiful and less expensive.

A company with the heft of Blackstone, the largest alternative investment company in the world, can pay for land closer to the urban population center, the Port of Seattle and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The property is along West Valley Highway and straddles South 204th Street. It’s near an Amazon distribution center and a Boeing Defense, Space and Security building.

Link and Panattoni are planning a two-phase, six-building business park called Pacific Gateway Industrial Park

None of the space has been preleased, according to broker Thad Mallory, vice chairman of Newmark Knight Frank, which is marketing the property for lease. He said the business park will have a significant amount of office space.

“It’s very exciting for Kent in terms of a lot of jobs,” said Mallory. “We hope to see the likes of Blue Origin and other manufacturing and high job uses.”

The plan is to start construction of the first phase the industrial park this spring and the second phase at the end of the year, he said.

The six buildings will range in size from about 29,900 square feet to 340,400 square feet.

“We have been a resident of Kent for a long time and will continue to have a strong presence at this site,” Boeing spokesperson Joanna Wingbermuehle said, adding that Boeing worked with the city to identify the buyer whose vision best aligned with the property.