The Port of Portland has approved a lease for Swiss-based ZAUGG Timber Solutions (ZTS) to build and operate one of the country’s largest new mass timber modular housing factories on the site of one of its former maritime terminals (Terminal 2). A “key tenant” in developing the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus inside the disused terminal, the 100,000-square-foot facility is expected to open in 2028. However, Wood Central understands that ZTS aims to start producing housing units, industrial and commercial buildings and other prefabricated parts in 2026, inside a renovated warehouse on the terminal.
“Our investment plans are a recognition of the incredible work already done to build the mass timber economy of the Pacific Northwest,” said Stephen Zaugg, chair of the third-generation company, who began building prefabricated houses in the United States during the pandemic. “We hope to be a small part of it by contributing our hard-won expertise around affordable modular and prefabricated mass timber elements.”
First reported by Wood Central in 2023, the campus is part of the Port’s aims to transform the former marine terminal in the city’s Northwest into a manufacturing hub – supporting Oregan’s growing mass timber industry, creating jobs but also addressing the region’s housing shortage: “Our partnership with ZTS marks a major leap forward in developing the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus at T2,” said Kimberly Branam, the Port’s Chief Trade and Economic Development Officer. “The facility will boost our region’s economy, promoting sustainable forestry practices, creating quality jobs, and increasing housing production.”
The facility, amongst the first of its kind anywhere in the US, capable of producing mass timber modular and prefabricated housing units and buildings at scale, will employ 60 employees and is working with local tribes to secure a wood supply. According to a media release provided by the Port, ZTS is already recruiting and training some workers for new, high-tech manufacturing positions through its Advanced Mass Timber Training Program, offering paid apprenticeships in Switzerland and guaranteed jobs at the factory.
More about the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus
When complete, the 39-acre campus will be a hub for manufacturers, research and development, and business incubators, with flexible industrial space and offices supporting housing innovation, mass timber, forestry, climate tech, and related industries. In addition to housing the new ZTS factory, it will also accommodate a new University of Oregon lab for research and development of mass timber products for housing construction, workforce training programs, and space to help small businesses scale and new companies launch.
The Port is a member of the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition (OMTC), which in 2022 received a $41.4 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to develop a comprehensive strategy for expanding the use of mass timber in the housing market. The grant included $10 million for the Port toward campus infrastructure development, $14.6 million toward UO’s acoustics research lab at T2, and OMTC projects in other areas of the state. Along with the OMTC grant, the Port received $4 million in federal Housing and Urban Development funding in 2024 and $5 million from the Oregon Legislature in 2023 toward campus development.
Wood Central understands that soil stabilisation and critical infrastructure improvements will take place over the next couple of years, with housing production expected to begin on-site as early as 2026, and Phase 1 of campus development will be completed and fully operational in 2028. Phase 1 includes upriver soil stabilisation, utility extensions, pavement improvements, campus-wide frontage improvements, and establishment of key anchor tenants like ZTS and the University of Oregon.
