Project Overview
The Port Maritime Center will be a landmark campus on the Tacoma waterfront, home to a new Port of Tacoma business office building and the Maritime|253 skills center for Tacoma Public Schools.
Maritime|253 will offer high school students across Pierce County the opportunity to develop skills and education leading to careers in maritime and industrial trades.
Located on Port-owned property on the east side of the Foss Waterway, just south of the Murray Morgan Bridge (11th St. bridge) in Tacoma, the Port’s new building will provide office space for approximately 150 employees of the Port and the Northwest Seaport Alliance. It will also include chambers for Port Commission meetings. The site master planning process will explore opportunities to provide public access to the adjacent waterway. The Port and the school district are conducting their own design processes and each funding the construction of their respective buildings.
Details
Fact Sheet
View or download the Port Maritime Center Project Fact Sheet.
Port business office
The new Port building will provide work space for approximately 150 employees of the Port of Tacoma and The Northwest Seaport Alliance. It will include chambers for Port of Tacoma Commission meetings, as well as some Managing Members meetings of The Northwest Seaport Alliance.
Maritime | 253
Maritime|253 will be a regional skills center for career and technical education. While Tacoma Public Schools will operate Maritime|253, high school students from districts across Pierce County will have the opportunity to enroll in courses and access career-focused programming. Courses will be offered at no cost to students. Educational focus areas are skilled and technical trades, transportation and logistics, technology and innovation, and sustainability.
Project location
The Maritime Center will be on Port-owned property along the east side of the Foss Waterway, across from Downtown Tacoma near the 11th Street Bridge.
Located in the heart of an original spuyaləpabš village site, the Port recognizes the historical and cultural significance of the project area and is committed to continued consultation and coordination with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. Extensive cultural resource testing and environmental protection efforts will continue in order to protect tribal history.
Timeline
Port Maritime Center Timeline
- Spring 2027: Port business center opens
- September 2026: Maritime 253 opens
- April 2025 – December 2026: Port business center construction
- March 2025 – July 2026: Maritime 253 construction
- January 2025: Ground improvements begin
- January 8, 2025: Groundbreaking event
- October 2024: Environmental (land) Remediation work begins
- May 7, 2024: Public open house #2, Foss Waterway Seaport
- April 2024 - December 2025: Ongoing master planning
- April - October 2024: Phase 2 (to 60% design) complete
- March 2024: Phase 1 (to 30% design) complete
- December 2023: Online open house/feedback site open
- November 2023: Public open house #1, Foss Waterway Seaport
- November 2023: Port building programming/design and site master planning process begins
- August 2023: TCF Architecture/BNBuilders selected as the design-build team for the project
- March 2023: Port and Tacoma Public Schools entered into an Interlocal Agreement to begin the planning process
Project news
Stay up to date on our progress!
Stay up to date on this project, our events, and more by subscribing to Pier Side, the Port's monthly e-newsletter and watching our monthly Port news program Working Waterfront.
For questions or comments about the Port Maritime Center, or any other Port of Tacoma project, please email us at: portinfo@portoftacoma.com.