EVERETT — Community Transit’s board of directors voted unanimously Thursday to authorize the purchase of a south Everett Goodwill location to support the growth of the county transportation agency.
The $25.4 million purchase will buy the property at 2208 W Casino Road, adjacent to the agency’s current administration building. The Goodwill property, currently home to a 108,000-square-foot outlet thrift store colloquially known as “the bins” — where many clothes and other items are priced by weight, rather than on an individual basis — was listed for sale September 2025, according to a board memo.
Community Transit’s board first began weighing the purchase in November 2025. In January, the board amended the agency’s 2026-27 biennial budget to reflect the cost of the purchase, as well as the revenue that would come from leasing the building back to Goodwill.
Community Transit said in the memo that the acquisition “is good value for public investment.” The memo states that within a few years, growth in service will “consume” the agency’s current capacity for vehicle storage, as well as maintenance, operational and administrative functions at its current headquarters just next door.
“Identifying and securing nearby land and facilities is a key strategy to sustaining operational growth, supporting service expansion, and maintaining flexibility for future development,” the memo read.
Roland Behee, the chief operating officer at Community Transit, said during Thursday’s board meeting that the building next door being offered for sale was “a rare opportunity.”
“It also is something that happened at a point in time when we are becoming acutely aware for the lack of parking for employees, the tight parking for our operational vehicles and the expanding footprint of the agency overall,” Behee said.
Community Transit plans to sign a lease agreement with Goodwill that would bring in $120,000 per month for the transit agency.
The proposed lease agreement will allow Goodwill to continue operating the outlet store, as well as the recycling center on site, for the next three years, Evergreen Goodwill spokesperson Alyssa Grigg said in an interview Thursday.
Evergreen Goodwill is not sure if or where it may open a new location, Grigg said, but the company will use the next three years to weigh its options.
“The north is an important part of our territory that Evergreen Goodwill covers, so we’re going to be exploring other locations up there,” Grigg said. “We really want to make sure we continue to have an outlet as part of our business model because it really is a critical component of how we manage all the textiles that move through our system, and support sustainability and local circularity.”
Goodwill purchased the property in 2011 for $10.9 million, Snohomish County property records show.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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