Port of San Francisco and Pasha Automotive Services Sign Agreement for Pier 80 Operations
Cargo and jobs will be returning to San Francisco’s Pier 80, under a 15-year agreement between the Port of San Francisco and Pasha Automotive Services, a subsidiary of The Pasha Group, a global logistics and transportation company with deep roots in San Francisco. The Port of San Francisco Commission unanimously approved the agreement at yesterday’s Port Commission meeting.
Under the agreement, Pasha Automotive Services will invest in much-needed infrastructure improvements at the 70-acre site and partner with Mayor Edwin Lee’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development to train and hire from local neighborhoods, including Bayview-Hunters Point. Up to 96 ships a year are anticipated to call at Pier 80, to meet growing demand for distribution of cars manufactured overseas and in Mexico, which now eclipses Japan as the major importer to California.
“This is a little bit of ‘back to the future,’ for our company,” said George Pasha IV, president and chief executive officer and grandson of the company’s founder. “Our company began in San Francisco as a gas station at Bay and Van Ness in 1941, and in 1960 opened the first independent automotive port processing plant in the country at nearby Fort Mason. We are thrilled to be back in San Francisco and to offer our customers additional options for their Ro/Ro (roll on, roll off) cargo at this key shipping hub.”
Under the agreement, which contains a provision for two five-year extensions, import vehicles will arrive on Ro/Ro ships from Asia, Mexico and Europe. Pasha will invest in and provide on-terminal automotive and processing services, including car wash and installation of vehicle components in factory-like conditions, and other services needed in advance of delivery.
Vehicles will then be transported by truck from Pier 80 to Northern California dealerships. Exports are anticipated as well for the Pacific Rim markets. In a Port Commissioned economic analysis, projections indicate that the new automotive business at Pier 80 could bring up to $2.9 million in net annual revenue to the Port by year-three of the contract.
Vessel operations will employ approximately 50 longshoremen (ILWU), and as Pasha’s auto processing operations ramp up, as many as 150 new jobs will be created for local residents. The Port and Pasha are partnering with CityBuild, a program of the Mayor’s Office, to train residents from nearby District 10 for these new living-wage jobs.
“After working the details for a successful business plan over the last two years with a remarkably talented cadre of maritime champions, including Monique Moyer, Elaine Forbes and Peter Dailey, we are extremely optimistic about our partnership with the Port of San Francisco,” said John Pasha, senior vice president, Pasha Automotive Services. “We are able to bring our experience and expertise in automotive services to create new jobs, serve existing and new customers, reinvigorate an underutilized asset, and bring a long-term, viable maritime use of Pier 80.”
“This agreement supports many of the goals of the Port’s strategic plan,” said Elaine Forbes, interim executive director. “It promotes our maritime industries; increases the volume of cargo shipping;improves and efficiently manages Port property; increases revenue, and most importantly, creates jobs and job training opportunities. We are looking forward to the long-term partnership.”
Port Commission President Willie Adams said, “This signals a new era for cargo in San Francisco. We are open for business again and the economic engine that supports working people is back too.”