Major mass timber production facility to open in Arkansas
The new site is expected to source wood for Walmart's new headquarters
Structurlam Mass Timber Corporation announced plans this week to open a large cross laminated timber manufacturing operation in a renovated steel mill in north central Arkansas that will play a major role in the construction of a new Walmart corporate headquarters.
Walmart is making an investment in Structurlam, a leading mass timber production company based in Penticom, British Columbia.
"Together, we are creating a future based on an innovative product that is transforming commercial building construction across North America," Structurlam Chief Executive Officer Hardy Wentzel said, announcing the $90 million investment in the facility in Conway, Ark. Cross-laminated timber is a very strong wood panel product that is manufactured by gluing together layers of sawed lumber. There are low levels of waste resulting from the production process.
"Walmart approached us about producing timber and once we began discussions, it just made sense to go down the equity investment path," Wentzel said. The project has roots in Walmart's plan to build a headquarters using pine trees grown in Arkansas.
“Our new U.S. location will answer the demand for mass timber building products and industrial matting products in the southern, central and eastern United States, and will complement our British Columbia operation serving the Canadian, Pacific Northwest, California and Intermountain markets,” added Wentzel. Structurlam will purchase a former Nucor steel plant and retrofit it. The renovated plant is expected to open in 2021.
The Walmart corporate office will be the largest mass timber project constructed in the U.S. using 1.1 million cubic feet of timber.
First Wash. D.C. mass timber project unveiled
The U.S. capital will have its first major mass timber project, a 105,000 square foot vertical addition to a big office building near the Washington Navy Yard and the Potomac River.
Columbia Property Trust will be building a mass timber addition atop its 286,000 square office building at 80 M Street in Washington, less than one block from the Washington Nationals major league baseball stadium.
Columbia Property Trust announced that one half of the new space has already been leased by the American Trucking Trucking Associations, which will move into their new offices in 2022. Columbia Property Trust is a New York Stock Exchange listed real estate investment trust.
