Cashmere Mill Property Springing To New Life

The Port of Chelan County held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday at the Cashmere Mill District Project.  The Port purchased the 32 acre site in 2008 with the vision of future redevelopment that could bring jobs to the area.   After a ten year process that involved an extensive environmental cleanup at the former lumber milling site, the Port was able to attract Louws Truss Company which recently opened a truss manufacturing facility on the site.  Wednesday, Port officials took another step towards that vision by breaking ground on a $6.6 million dollar construction project  for two 16,000 square foot buildings that will completed in the Spring of 2019.  Chelan County contributed $500, ooo to the building project.

In his opening remarks, Port Commission President Rory Turner said the buildings represent the future direction of the Port District "They are the new age and where everything is going from fulfillment, to manufacturing, to storage to distribution.  With the economy and the geography that we live in, we need these warehouses"

Port Business Development Director Craig Larsen has four businesses that have expressed interest in leasing space in the new buildings.  The buildings will be suitable for a variety of commercial needs "They are perfect for warehousing, production, lab space, all sorts of different uses.  They're designed to be flexible and get a good mix of tenants into those buildings" said Larsen.

Cashmere Mayor Jim Fletcher welcomes the business potential the project can bring to Cashmere "I know of two people looking for kitchen manufacturing facilities to produce a product they can sell on Amazon.  This being a flexible facility that can serve a lot of different businesses and as they outgrow it, they can bring in somebody else"

Ray Schmitten, whose family owned the lumber mill that relocated from Swakane Canyon to the Cashmere site in 1919 said his family is pleased with what is happening to the property "We have been supportive of the project and excited to see it turned into jobs for the community, back into jobs and that's what our community needs"  Schmitten recalled at it's peak in the 1950's,  the mill employed up to 200 people