The Port of Portland has granted ZAUGG Wood Solutions (ZTS) an extensive ground lease to construct and run a new mass wood modular plant at Terminal 2’s Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus. The Port is converting a former marine terminal in Portland’s Northwest industrial region into a manufacturing hub, and ZTS is a major anchor tenant at the site. The campus will assist in alleviating the housing scarcity in the area, support Oregon’s expanding mass timber sector, and generate new employment and small company opportunities.
“Our partnership with ZTS marks a major leap forward in developing the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus at T2,” confirmed Kimberly Branam, Port of Portland Chief Trade and Economic Development Officer. He continued, “Their new manufacturing facility will boost our region’s economy by promoting sustainable forestry practices, creating quality jobs, and increasing housing production.”
Modular homes may be created year-round, are constructed more quickly, and produce less trash than traditional building. Compared to concrete or steel, mass timber buildings—which are composed of layered and bonded wood—use less energy and store more carbon. They may also be sourced ethically and economically, promoting the resilience and health of forests. Early in 2028, the new 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility is anticipated to open. In an interim manufacturing plant housed in a refurbished warehouse at T2, ZTS will start manufacturing mass wood modular housing units, commercial and industrial structures, and other prefabricated mass timber building components even earlier, as early as 2026.
“Our investment plans are a recognition of the incredible work already done to build the mass timber economy of the Pacific Northwest. We hope we can be a small part of it by contributing our hard-won expertise around affordable modular and prefabricated mass timber elements,” stated Stephan Zaugg, Chairman of the company.
The ZAUGG group of enterprises, which has been producing prefabricated houses since 1936, has a North American branch called ZTS. After settling in the US in 2020, the third-generation, family-run Swiss company constructed the country’s first modular multifamily mass timber prototype. The T2 facility will be one of the first in the US to manufacture commercial structures and mass timber modular and prefabricated dwelling units on such a huge scale. As mills and suppliers hire more workers to meet the increased demand, the facility will support an estimated 135 jobs in the region and ramp up to 60 personnel. With its Advanced Mass Timber Training Program, ZTS is already hiring and training certain personnel for new, high-tech manufacturing employment. The program offers guaranteed jobs in the future production as well as paid apprenticeships in Switzerland.
Local companies and tribes in the Pacific Northwest are also collaborating with ZTS. Joint training, prototyping, and production are all part of the company’s long-standing collaboration with the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. To finish its prefabricated structures, ZTS will need many suppliers of glulam and CLT (cross-laminated timber) wood, and it anticipates working with regional producers when their facilities are operational.
With flexible industrial space and offices supporting housing innovation, mass wood, forestry, climate tech, and associated businesses, the 39-acre campus at T2 will serve as a hub for manufacturers, R&D, and business incubators once it is finished. A new University of Oregon lab for the research and development of mass timber products for housing construction, workforce training programs, the ZTS factory for producing modular homes and other mass timber structures, and space to support the growth of small enterprises and the establishment of new ventures will all be housed there.
In 2022, the U.S. Economic Development Administration awarded the Oregon Mass Wood Coalition (OMTC), of which the Port is a part, a $41.4 million grant to create a comprehensive plan for increasing the use of mass wood in the housing market. In addition to OMTC initiatives in other parts of the state, the award included $14.6 million for UO’s acoustics research lab at T2 and $10 million for the Port toward campus infrastructure expansion. In addition to the OMTC grant, the Port was awarded $5 million from the Oregon Legislature in 2023 for campus development and $4 million in federal Housing and Urban Development money in 2024.
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