Washougal industrial site sells for $1.8 million

A former lumber-processing site at the Port of Camas-Washougal has sold for $1.8 million to investors who will lease a portion of it to National Pipe and Piling Inc., a company that fabricates and distributes steel piling for commercial construction.

The company chose the site for its rail-line access and bare ground for storage, said Gerald Breunig, who bought the 11-acre property with his wife, Diane Rohrbach.

Breunig said National Pipe will employ seven people on about 6 acres of the tract, which was formerly owned by the Hambleton Bros. Lumber Co. The property, not to be confused with the former Hambleton Bros. sawmill site, is located on the south side of state Highway 14, west of the South 32nd Street Exit. It was an auxiliary site used by Hambleton for drying lumber.

The tract, sold this month, is situated 2 1/2 miles east of the former sawmill site. Redevelopment of the 25-acre sawmill site has been the topic of public discussion, led by the port. Vancouver-based Killian Pacific has submitted a written offer to buy the property.

Unlike the larger site’s zoning designation of highway-commercial, the 11-acre tract is zoned for industrial use, in short supply in Clark County, according to Ron Kawamoto, a vice president and broker with NAI Norris Beggs & Simpson commercial real estate office in Vancouver.

Kawamoto, who represented the seller, said the property was sold by First City Servicing Corp.

“The title was transferred to them eight years ago,” he said.

Breunig said Tacoma-based National Pipe and Piling previously operated at the Port of Vancouver. The company relocated about a year ago to a temporary space in Portland.