The Craig Stein Beverage distribution facility in Vancouver is at 5408 N.E. 88th St., as seen Monday morning. The company has submitted plans to build a bigger facility in east Vancouver. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
Craig Stein Beverage has submitted preliminary plans to build a new 184,000-square-foot warehouse on a 17-acre site at 14303 N.E. 63rd St. in east Vancouver, pointing to an expansion of the company’s snack and drink distribution operations.
The proposed new facility would include 24,000 square feet of office space and 160,000 square feet of warehouse space, along with an employee parking lot and a 10,650-square-foot exterior storage area. The pre-application packet filed with the city of Vancouver also mentions an anticipated 91,200-square-foot future expansion to the building. The property abuts a residential neighborhood on the west edge, although the pre-application packet states that the development would be concentrated on the east side of the site.
The size of both the proposed site and the proposed building would dwarf the company’s existing Vancouver facility, which according to county records is slightly less than 70,000 square feet located on a 5-acre site.
The project’s pre-application packet does not specify whether the new warehouse and accompanying offices would be a replacement facility or a second location that would operate concurrently. The packet only states that the new facility would be used “for the business operation of Craig Stein Beverage.”
Company owner Craig Stein could not be reached for comment.
The preliminary application was submitted Nov. 8 by Perlo Construction on behalf of Stein Holdings. A pre-application conference with the city is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Dec. 5.
Craig Stein Beverage distributes beer, wine, spirits, soft drinks and snacks throughout the Pacific Northwest and Wyoming, including major brands such as MillerCoors, Sierra Nevada and Rockstar energy drinks. The company’s existing Vancouver distribution center is in an industrial park off of Northeast 88th Street in the St. John’s area.
The company originated in 1990 when Stein purchased Cascade Distributing in Vancouver, at the time a small-scale operation with 11 employees. The company has grown continuously through a series of mergers and acquisitions over its nearly 30-year life, and its operations now span five primary distribution facilities, one in Vancouver, one in Nyssa, Ore., and three in Idaho. The various regional distribution subsidiaries are grouped under the umbrella name CSB.
In 2018 the company merged with Bellevue-based distributor The Odom Corporation to form a new partnership called Northwest Beverages, which serves businesses in Puget Sound-area counties. The two companies continue to operate under their own names in the rest of their respective distribution areas. At the time, Craig Stein Beverage had grown to 450 employees and expected to add another 200 through the merger.
This story has been updated to correct the address of the proposed new facility.
Morning Briefing Newsletter
Get a rundown of the latest local and regional news every Mon-Fri morning.
