SAFE Boats International, the employee-owned military vessel builder that operates in Tacoma's Tideflats, is exploring a major expansion at the Port of Tacoma that could put it in a space nearly three times the size of its current facility.
The Bremerton-headquartered company filed pre-application documents with the City of Tacoma in August evaluating five parcels at 202 and 302 E. F St. for "manufacturing, assembly, storage, office and related industrial operations," according to The News Tribune, which first reported the filing. The site is currently home to Capital Lumber's Tacoma distribution center.
The filing describes the project as feasibility planning for a potential relocation to new privately owned properties at the port.
Two development scenarios are on the table: reusing the existing Capital Lumber building or constructing a new building on the lot across the street.
No formal application has been filed. A pre-application is an early-stage conference between city staff and developers to determine whether they intend to pursue a project.
A bigger footprint
SAFE Boats' current Tacoma facility at 401 Alexander Ave. E. offers more than 37,000 square feet of covered production space at the port's Earley Business Center. Capital Lumber's Tacoma site, which opened in 1999, includes a 100,000-plus square foot warehouse, seven asphalt-covered acres and a three-acre engineered wood products yard, according to the lumber company's website.
Representatives from both SAFE Boats and Capital Lumber did not respond to requests for comment from The News Tribune.
Record backlog, workforce demand
The potential expansion comes as SAFE Boats reports its highest vessel backlog in company history. As of March, the company employed more than 300 workers across its Bremerton and Tacoma facilities with a backlog exceeding 100 vessels, according to a WorkBoat profile published March 26.
"We've got jobs. We just need that workforce," chief revenue officer Rob Goley told WorkBoat in March.
The Tacoma site first opened in 2012 to build vessels over 65 feet, including 85-foot Mark VI patrol boats for the U.S. Navy. It was shuttered for a period before reopening in 2021 to fulfill a Navy contract building Mark VI boats for Ukraine. A Trump administration stop-work order temporarily halted Mark VI production in 2025, but SAFE Boats confirmed the contracts were later released and payments received.
Chief operations officer Christer Bradley told WorkBoat in March that the company responded to the 2025 stoppage by relocating small boat production from Bremerton to Tacoma, building five boats in just over 30 days. Bradley said the company has capacity to add up to 36 new team members at its current facilities.
30th anniversary, employee-owned
SAFE Boats marks its 30th anniversary in 2026. The company became 100% employee-owned through an ESOP in 2023 after a decade under private-equity firm McCarthy Capital, a transition that restored its small-business certification and reopened eligibility for federal set-aside contracts. It has delivered more than 2,700 vessels to over 72 countries for military, law enforcement, fire and rescue, and commercial customers.
No timeline has been announced for a formal development application or city decision on the E. F Street parcels.
