JB2 Partners Breaks Ground on Washington Industrial Project

WestRock factory groundbreaking. Image courtesy of Clayco

JB2 Partners has started construction on a 410,000-square-foot, build-to-suit industrial facility for the corrugated packaging company WestRock in Longview, Wash. The owner, an investment fund managed by ElmTree Funds, tapped JB2 to serve as the project’s developer. Clayco is the general contractor, while Langan will provide civil engineering services. Completion is expected this fall.

Designed by Lamar Johnson Collaborative, the corrugated box plant will have a clearance height of 44 feet. The facility is taking shape on a 23.5-acre site near WestRock’s current paper mill on Fibre Way and will replace, when complete, the company’s existing corrugated packaging operations in Longview.

For WestRock, this plant would address the growing demand from its regional customers in the Pacific Northwest region. The location is close to the Portland-Washington border and near Interstate 5, connecting to Seattle, Tacoma, Wash., and Vancouver, Wash.

Focusing on industrial and office

The WestRock-leased property is in line with ElmTree Funds’ strategy of investing in net-lease and build-to-suit assets in the industrial sector. The firm focuses mostly on industrial and office properties in primary and secondary U.S. markets that are leased to investment-grade tenants for a minimum of 10 years.

In January 2021, ElmTree partnered with Guggenheim Investments to acquire industrial e-commerce properties across the U.S. A year prior, the firm sold an 18-property portfolio of industrial and office assets to Guggenheim Investments spanning several states for $900 million.