CARLSBORG — The Clallam County Public Utility District has agreed to buy the former Costco Wholesale building at Hooker Road and U.S. Highway 101 for $3.8 million.
The PUD plans to eventually consolidate services at the 14-acre site and sell its Port Angeles headquarters at 2431 E. Highway 101, while leasing the Sequim office at 502 S. Still Road, said Hugh Haffner, PUD commission president.
The PUD announced on Tuesday that it agreed to purchase the site and its 72,000-square-foot building last month.
The most immediate use of the site would be to relocate the PUD’s cramped operations facility on Carlsborg road.
“We have outgrown the space,” Haffner said.
The sale is expected to be finalized in December or January, which is when the PUD has to have the proper permits in order, said Doug Nass, PUD general manager.
Nass said the deadline will be either Dec. 28 or Jan. 28.
The purchase, Nass said, would be funded by a 20-year $8.65 million bond for capital projects approved by the PUD commission in April.
The bond has an average interest rate of 4 percent. Nass said the bond costs each customer less than 50 cents a month.
The bond also covers a $1.45 million mobile substation and money for new transformers, among other capital equipment.
Haffner said retrofitting the warehouse would cost about $500,000.
A $50,000 security deposit has been paid to Costco that the PUD will get back if it can finalize the sale by deadline, he said.
