American Tire Distributors, Inc., recently announced a 10-year lease of 126,306 square feet at Auburn 18, 521 8th St. SW, located west of the SuperMall of the Great Northwest and Interurban Trail.

American Tire Distributor’s lease will bring the 285,000 square foot industrial park to 100-percent occupancy, according to Ed Hogan, CB Richard Ellis, who represented Guardian Life of New York, the owner of Auburn 18, in the lease transaction.

“We are delighted to be the new home for ATD’s first Washington state distribution center,” Hogan said. “We are excited about the opportunities to collaborate with American Tire Distributors to make its Auburn distribution center successful and its employees welcome in our town.”

American Tire Distributor’s Auburn facility will be the company’s first in the state and only the second one in the Pacific Northwest. It is expected to open in March 2011 and will initially employ 20 people.

American Tire Distributors, founded in 1935 and headquartered in Huntersville, N.C., is one of the nation’s largest independent suppliers of tires to the replacement tire market. It currently operates 88 distribution centers servicing 34 states.

The company focuses on helping tire and wheel retail dealers compete with larger retailers by offering the most complete, coast-to-coast selection of tires, wheels and related products and value-added services.

American Tire Distributors employs more than 2,200 employees across its nationwide distribution center network.

For more information, visit http://atd-us.com/