The WEB property has been sold - or it is on the City Council agenda for Tuesday night to finalize the agreement. The new owner is Yakima Products, a company that makes car carriers for bikes, kayaks, skis, containers for gear, trailers, etc. The company is moving its headquarters from rented offices in Beaverton to their own building in Lake Oswego that will be large enough to expand their growing business.
Yakima Products expects to close the deal in August and immediately begin remodeling the interior. They expect to be in the building by December.
If a deal with the school district can be worked out to purchase Palisades School, this would give Palisades area it's only public park/playground area - something they have desired for a long time. This would be icing on the cake. IF the deal does not allow the Parks and Recreation Department to grow - some downsizing and outsourcing might be good.
Welcome to the community Yakima. This could be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Lake Oswego Review, June 30, 2015 By Saundra Sorensen
Beaverton-based rack maker plans to move its headquarters by Dec. 1; city negotiating with school district to move Parks & Rec to Palisades Elementary
The 35-year-old company, which makes roof racks, bike racks, cargo boxes and bags and multi-sport trailers, will move its corporate headquarters and research-and-development operations to the 89,000-square-foot building at 4101 Kruse Way.
Beaverton-based Yakima Products Inc. has agreed to purchase the West End Building for $20.1 million, company and city officials announced Tuesday.
The 35-year-old company, which makes roof racks, bike racks, cargo boxes and bags and multi-sport trailers, will move its corporate headquarters and research-and-development operations to the 89,000-square-foot building at 4101 Kruse Way.
“We are thrilled to be making the West End Building Yakima’s new home,” said Ryan Martin, the company’s CEO. “It’s the perfect location for our growing business, and we are excited to have a headquarters that we fully own and can customize to our unique needs.”
[Brant] Williams said Yakima has agreed to lease back office space to the city for the Lake Oswego-Tigard Water Partnership until that project is completed, probably for two years. The city currently is in negotiations with the Lake Oswego School District to relocate the Parks & Recreation Department to Palisades Elementary School; if those plans are approved, department staff would likely begin their move in mid-August.
Williams said that if the council approves the deal with Yakima on Tuesday, the company would then have to “sign the agreement, undergo their due-diligence period and hopefully close somewhere between Aug. 21 and Sept. 13.
Yakima said Tuesday that it expects extensive interior remodeling to begin in August, led by the Portland architecture and design firm Mackenzie. The company said it plans to complete the move from Beaverton by Dec. 1.
Martin, the company's CEO, said the nearly 14-acre property not only provides Yakima with a campus-like setting, but also reflects the company’s passion for the outdoors and the natural environment.
“With woods in our backyard and a beautiful lake just a mile away, this new location really supports and embodies our love of playing in the outdoors,” he said.
The city has been looking to find the right buyer for the WEB for years. It acquired the property from Safeco Insurance in 2006 for $20 million, with plans to create a community center-of-sorts. But those plans were derailed by the Great Recession, when voter support lagged and the city resolved to put the property back on the market.
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