Port, Toyota Kick Off Terminal 4 Redo

PORTLAND-The city and the state’s top officials and a host of others will gather at the Port of Portland’s terminal 4 Halloween morning to kick off construction of Toyota Motor Sales new auto processing center and hail the significance of the $60-million lease and development deal. The agreement, approved earlier this month, keeps Toyota processing autos at the Port of Portland for at least another 15 years.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, Portland Mayor Vera Katz, Port of Portland Executive Director Bill Wyatt, Toyota Administrative Services Group Vice President Bob Pitts, and St. Johns Neighborhood Association Chair Robin Plance will lead off the event shortly before 11 a.m. and speak about the 200 family wage jobs that were retained and the host of efficiency- and environmental-related site enhancements that are part of the project. The speeches will be followed by a tour of the site and a demonstration of Toyota’s auto processing operation.

Toyota, which has processed autos at the port since the 1970s, currently leases around 104 acres; 65 acres down by the river for parking cars and another 40 acres about a mile up a hill behind Terminal 4 that holds aging metal buildings used for processing the cars before shipment to both regional and national dealerships.