Newmark Arranges 291,035-SF Industrial Lease in Kent, Washington for Cowboy Space Aerospace Venture
Newmark has arranged a 291,035-square-foot industrial lease at 7650 S. 228th St. in Kent, Washington, with aerospace and advanced manufacturing firm Cowboy Space signing on to convert the former logistics facility into a specialized production operation supporting space and rocket development. The deal, announced September 4, 2026, is the largest industrial lease in the Puget Sound region year-to-date, according to Newmark Research.
Newmark Executive Vice Chairman Thad Mallory, SIOR, and Vice Chairman Taylor Hoff, SIOR, represented landlord CenterPoint Properties in the transaction.
A Logistics Box Reimagined for Aerospace Manufacturing
The property at 7650 S. 228th St. was originally developed as a distribution facility and most recently occupied by Costco. Its physical characteristics — including 75 dock-high doors, 2 grade-level doors, 6 rail doors, 137 trailer positions, 30-foot clear height, approximately 8,731 square feet of office space, extensive power infrastructure, and abundant parking — made it an attractive candidate for conversion to advanced manufacturing use.
Cowboy Space plans to undertake significant capital improvements to the site, including new office construction, power and ventilation upgrades, enhanced security measures, flooring improvements, and extensive glazing and skylight additions. Both tenant and landlord-funded capital work is expected as part of the repositioning. The project is anticipated to add approximately 300 jobs to the region's aerospace industry.
"This building was originally designed for large-scale logistics users, but Cowboy Space recognized the opportunity to reimagine it as a highly specialized production facility," said Taylor Hoff. "We're seeing growing demand from aerospace and advanced manufacturing companies that need significant power, large floor plates and access to engineering talent, and the Kent Valley is uniquely positioned to meet those requirements."
Kent Valley's Aerospace Cluster Draws Cowboy Space
The property sits within Kent's industrial corridor, near a growing concentration of aerospace and space technology companies that includes Blue Origin, Stoke Space, and Boeing. The location also provides access to a skilled workforce supported by decades of aerospace manufacturing activity across the Puget Sound region.
Bill Ellis, Kent's Chief Economic Development Officer, said the lease validates a long-term economic development strategy for the area. "This lease is exactly the kind of investment that the City of Kent has been working toward for years," Ellis said. "We recognized early on that the future of the Kent Valley wasn't just traditional distribution, but advanced manufacturing, aerospace and next-generation space companies. Cowboy Space's decision to establish a major presence here helps validate that vision."
CenterPoint Properties framed the deal as consistent with demand trends it is tracking across its West Coast holdings. "Across our West Coast portfolio, we're seeing sustained demand from advanced manufacturing users, and this lease with Cowboy Space reflects that broader trend," said Wes Payne, leasing officer at CenterPoint. "By repositioning the asset to meet the needs of modern manufacturing, we were able to create value for both Cowboy Space and the property, while supporting the continued growth of the region's aerospace and advanced manufacturing ecosystem."
Market Context: Constrained Supply, Specialized Demand
The transaction comes against a backdrop of elevated vacancy in the broader Puget Sound industrial market. Regional vacancy reached 10.4% in the second quarter of 2026, the highest level in Newmark's dataset dating to 2005, as 3.3 million square feet delivered in the first half of the year. Leasing activity through June totaled 5.7 million square feet, approximately 42% below the five-year first-half average of 9.8 million square feet. A separate market measure put Puget Sound industrial vacancy at 11.7% in Q2 2026, with negative 377,000 square feet of net absorption.
Despite that softness, the supply pipeline has tightened considerably. Just 1.2 million square feet was under construction across the Puget Sound market as of mid-2026, representing approximately 0.4% of the region's total inventory — a constrained development pace that could support future occupancy gains. The Kent submarket alone accounts for more than 52.5 million square feet of industrial inventory, making it the largest industrial concentration in the region. Kent vacancy stood at approximately 10.2% at midyear, with asking rents around $0.93 NNN per square foot per month.
Within that environment, large-format assets with heavy power capacity and specialized infrastructure have continued to attract manufacturing-oriented users even as the broader leasing market has slowed. Newmark Research noted that manufacturing employment in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area increased 1.9% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, reversing trends seen throughout much of 2025 and signaling renewed momentum among industrial occupiers in the sector.
About the Parties
Newmark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMRK) is a commercial real estate advisory and services firm. For the twelve months ended June 30, 2026, Newmark generated revenues of more than $3.6 billion. The company and its business partners operated from over 195 offices with more than 10,000 professionals across four continents as of that date.
CenterPoint Properties is the landlord for the Kent facility. Cowboy Space is an aerospace and advanced manufacturing firm that will use the converted Kent facility to support space and rocket development operations.
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