The county is considering the site for an intermodal yard to handle truck-to-rail-and possibly truck-to-barge-transfers of solid waste. Meantime, it has leased a total of 60,000 sf in the warehouse back to the seller, Pendleton Flour Mills, and Puratos, a provider of products and services to bakers, pastry-chefs and chocolatiers. The two four-year leases are generating $20,000 ($0.33 per sf) in monthly rental revenues, not including reimbursement for water, sewer and electricity.

Mark Buscher, lead planner in the county's solid waste division, tells GlobeSt.com the property was on the market for seven months at an asking price of $10.7 million before the county tied it up for 20% less. "We've purchased it as a land banking investment to preserve an option to develop it in future as solid waste transfer facility," says Buscher. "At same time it is a reasonable investment because of the ability to generate rent revenue and the fact that it is the only fee simple property available on Harbour Island."

King County tapped Cushman & Wakefield broker Tom Wilson to negotiate the acquisition and the leases. Wilson tells GlobeSt.com that given the uncertain future of the warehouse--which would be torn down if the county indeed uses the site as a transfer station--it is unlikely the county will find tenants for the remainder of the warehouse.