Moses Lake SGL plant waiting for buyer

MOSES LAKE — The SGL plant in Moses Lake is for sale, and proposals to buy it are due this week. Basin Ag Sales is handling the sale of the property in conjunction with Kidder Mathews, a real estate firm that specializes in industrial properties.

SGL Carbon Fibers, based in Wiesbaden, Germany, built its plant in Moses Lake in 2010, to manufacture large-tow carbon fiber for BMW vehicle bodies. By 2015, it employed about 200 people and had doubled the plant’s production, according to the company’s website. But by 2020, SGL had begun laying off personnel, citing decreased demand for its product, according to Columbia Basin Herald archives, and operations ceased at the Moses Lake plant in the summer of 2025, according to SGL’s website.

“The campus offers more than 380,000 square feet of existing building improvements situated on approximately 120 acres,” Broker Anna Van Diest of Basin Ag Sales wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “The property includes three production buildings, a large administrative building, and significant existing infrastructure that provides a strong foundation for a future owner.”

Neither Van Diest nor Kidder Mathews was at liberty to discuss specifics about any companies that might be interested, Van Diest said, due to non-disclosure agreements. However, the site has some advantages that an industrial buyer might appreciate, Van Diest said. The site was set up for 32-megawatt power use, and has a six-inch natural gas pipeline. The manufacturing equipment can be included with the property if a buyer has a use for it, she said.

“The entire design of the property is for carbon fiber production,” said Dave Speers of Kidder Mathews in Seattle. “So, in a perfect world, if we can find somebody that has a similar use, that certainly would be our number one target, and it has been. But there's also the possibility of somebody taking that equipment out and using the structures, which are 43-foot clear buildings. They're built like you can't believe.”

“A 43-foot clear height is enormous in terms of space volume for all sorts of industries,” said Dan Stutz, also of Kidder Mathews. “And then we have a smaller administration building, which is in wonderful shape.”

Moses Lake, with abundant power and lots of space, is a good location for an industrial buyer, Speers said.

“For these big industries to replace that plant is a fortune, but if it were in the Puget Sound region, it'd be a double fortune,” he said. “Frankly, the utilities aren't available. The cost per megawatt-hour in Moses Lake is probably a tenth of what it is in Seattle.”

Once a buyer is selected, the property could change hands in as little as 30 days, or it could take six months or more, Van Diest said.

“With the combination of size, infrastructure, acreage, and existing improvements, it makes it a pretty rare asset,” she said.

    The SGL Carbon plant in Moses Lake includes more than 380,000 square feet of factory buildings on about 120 acres.