The Port of Pasco is adding 18.3 acres to its Reimann Industrial Center – a move that will allow for continued industrial growth and economic development, officials said.

The triangle of land – which sits between the 300-acre industrial center and North Railroad Avenue – is state trust land. The port has been working with the state Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, on the sale for years, and the Board of Natural Resources signed off on June 6.

The board agreed to sell the land to the port via direct transfer for $495,000.

The land is zoned for agricultural use and doesn’t have water rights.

It connects the northern part of the Reimann Industrial Center with Railroad Avenue, and “our property is landlocked without it,” said Randy Hayden, port executive director.

He praised DNR and the agency’s board for being “great partners.”

The sale “enables us to continue our industrial development and bring in those family wage jobs and bring in a tax base to support our schools and other public services,” he said.

Hilary Franz, the state’s commissioner of public lands, said in a statement that transferring the parcel to the port “will support a transformational opportunity for the economy of the Tri-Cities, and I am excited to have a role in that development.” She added that, “DNR’s goal is always to maintain or increase the amount of lands in state ownership to best support communities across Washington, but sometimes DNR-managed properties serve their communities best when they are transferred to local governments who can magnify their economic impact.”

DNR manages millions of acres of trust lands, which generate revenue to support specific beneficiaries, including – in the case of the Pasco land – K-12 school construction in the state. The 18.3 acres in Pasco was only generating $1,480 annually for the Common School Trust, and money from the sale will go toward acquiring property better suited to bring in revenue for school construction, DNR said.

The Reimann Industrial Center is named for the late port Commissioner Ron Reimann.

About half the acreage has been sold to Darigold Inc. for a plant. Construction is under way at the site, and Darigold is expected to begin operations there next year.

The remaining land is being marketed for industrial development.

The port also has seen recent activity involving another of its industrial centers – the 93-acre Pasco Industrial Center 395, or PIC395, on North Capitol Avenue east of Highway 395. Port commissioners in May approved a purchase and sale agreement with APG Land Acquisitions LLC for 25 acres.

The idea is to build a distribution facility for an unnamed tenant at the site.

The project isn’t a done deal; the agreement kicks off a period of due diligence where the company determines whether the property will fit its needs.

The sale price is $3.75 million, or $150,000 an acre.