Grand opening of the Dryland Warehouse. From left to right: Glacier Fish Company founder Erik Breivik, city mayor Shirley Marquardt, Glacier Fish Company CEO Mike Breivik, and Delta Western president Kirk Payne. (Courtesy of Kirk Payne)

A brand-new warehouse has sprung up in a matter of months along Unalaska’s shoreline. Last Thursday, the building’s joint owners celebrated its completion. They’re holding it up as an example of how cooperation is key when land is limited.

A crowd of locals and business executives gathered next to Delta Western’s fuel dock on East Point Road for the building's grand opening. Behind them, the paint still fresh, was the new 40,000 square-foot Dryland Warehouse -- the result of a joint venture between fuel supplier Delta Western and Glacier Fish Company.

The 15-acre site is part of Delta Western’s long-term lease from the Ounalashka Corporation, which they’ve had since 1985. But up until several months ago, the lot was home to little more than a few stored crab pots. The company simply didn’t need the space for anything else.

But Glacier Fish did. The Seattle-based company operates a fleet of three factory trawlers in the North Pacific. President Jim Johnson says he spent three unsuccessful years searching for a site in Unalaska to store processing supplies and boat equipment.

“We’ve been in the business for thirty years, we hope to be another thirty, but we have to have, you know, a warehouse to operate out of,” says Johnson.

While Glacier Fish was looking for land, Delta Western was starting to think about ways to expand its services to include providing storage space for customers. The company even began filling in a section of tideland within their lease to accommodate a smaller warehouse.

Delta Western president Kirk Payne says when he sat down for a routine business meeting with Glacier Fish executives last year, the men realized they could help each other out.

“You know, these things come up and you brainstorm and you say ‘Hey, we might have a solution for that’ and you put your heads together and next thing you know we’ve got a building,” says Payne.

They declined to say how much it cost, but the companies split the bill. Delta Western managed the land development and Glacier Fish hired contractor BKR Construction. They each own half of the building -- but won’t be keeping all of the space for themselves. Both companies plan to rent out space to others who, like Glacier Fish, have struggled to find property on the island.