Port of Oakland, CenterPoint agree to build DC at planned global logistics hub

The Port of Oakland tentatively voted last night to approve a deal with developer CenterPoint Properties to build a $52 million, 440,000-square-foot distribution center on port property, a key step in Oakland's multi-year plan to construct a global logistics and distribution hub on 360 acres adjacent to its marine terminals.

The proposed DC, which still must get final approval from the port's board of commissioners, is touted by the port as the largest such facility ever to be built at a West Coast port. The final vote is scheduled for Nov. 30. If the board approves it, the deal becomes official in January. Work is slated to begin in the first quarter of 2018, and be completed by the end of the year.

The DC will be the first building constructed on the global campus, which is known as the "Seaport Logistics Complex." Companies using the facility would require "transloading" services, the process of transferring cargo between trucks, trains, and vessels for shipment. Transloading is a common practice at locations that are near West Coast ports. However, Oakland officials said it would be one of the few ports to perform the function within its boundaries.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based CenterPoint will build and manage the DC, the port said in a statement.

In 2016, the port opened a $100 million rail yard at the complex to enable Western railroads to facilitate the transloading process.

The idea for a global logistics complex has been in the works ever since the Army decommissioned its 364-acre supply base in Oakland in the late 1990s. The port received 187 acres over a four-year period starting in 2003. The city of Oakland received a similar parcel.

So far, the city has built one warehouse on its land.