Condition: Terminal -- A Seattle Landmark, The Pier 86 Grain Complex, Has Losts Its Tenant, And Prospects For Landing Another Seem Remote. Will The Working Waterfront Lose 200 Jobs And Yet Another Fixture?

Sixty-eight white silos bundled closely together rise more than 100 feet into the sky at the Port of Seattle's Terminal 86 on the Seattle waterfront.

Anyone who has walked or jogged along Myrtle Edwards Park has seen the Seattle grain terminal, a structure so big it can hold enough corn and soybeans to more than fill Safeco Field.

To some, the massive white grain terminal is an eyesore that blocks waterfront views from Elliott Bay to Queen Anne; to others it is a towering monument to trade in the Northwest: Last year, more than 46 million bushels of grain from America's heartland flowed though its conveyors onto huge ships bound for places like Japan and China.

It is also a symbol of the working waterfront that has been so much a part of Seattle history - a waterfront dominated by ships and tugboats rather than the condos, seafood restaurants and office buildings that have encroached upon it in recent years.

Now the future of the 30-year-old facility, and the 40 acres of prime waterfront land it occupies, is uncertain.

Minnesota-based Cargill, which has leased the terminal since it opened, will stop operating the facility next year to comply with an antitrust ruling from the U.S. Justice Department.

Cargill, which announced it would buy Continental Grain last November, must sell four port elevators, four river elevators and one rail terminal, to avoid antitrust problems. The Justice Department's ruling came after farmers and farmer's groups

nationwide protested the Cargill-Continental alliance, fearing the company's monopoly on exports would allow it to lower prices paid to farmers for their products.

Cargill was faced with a choice: give up a similar grain facility that Continental operates at the Port of Tacoma, or continue its own operations in Seattle; it chose to leave Seattle. The company gave little explanation for the choice, saying only that it was a complex decision.

One reason could be that Continental enjoys a more favorable lease in Tacoma. While Continental pays about $1.3 million a year to lease its facility, Cargill pays more than $1 million a year for the Seattle facility plus docking fees for the ships. In 1997, those fees cost Cargill about $1.5 million in addition to the lease payments.

Whatever the reason for the decision, Cargill, which agreed in November to continue leasing the Seattle terminal through 2005, must find another tenant if the facility is to remain a grain terminal.

If another operator cannot be found, Cargill would presumably, depending on the outcome of negotiations with the Port of Seattle, have to pay the balance of its lease or find a way to get out of it. That means the 40 acres of waterfront land where the terminal sits could be up for grabs.

If that happens, the Port almost certainly could command top dollar for the property. No doubt the site would be attractive for other uses, including high-tech or biotech facilities. In the last few years, names such as Go2Net, Visio, RealNetworks and PathoGenesis have appeared along the waterfront. Just last year, Immunex bought the 29-acre Terminal 88 near the grain terminal for $16 million. In fact, the Terminal 86 land is currently zoned for most commercial uses, including things like shopping malls and movie theaters.

Port officials say they would like to keep operating a grain terminal on the land. After all, the Port of Seattle built the $14 million facility, which was finished in 1970, specifically for Cargill. It could cost up to several million to tear it down.

"Our lease remains in effect," said William Friedman, general manager of cargo piers and industrial properties for the Port of Seattle. "Our feeling right now is that the burden is on them to continue with our lease."

Officials concede, however, that if things don't work out, the Port commission could begin discussing alternative uses for the land.

"Over the years there have always been questions about the grain terminal. But from our point of view, it's still very viable. Financially it's a successful facility," said Friedman.

According to Port statistics, the terminal pumps about $60 million in revenues into the companies handling the grain. The Port points out that the facility provides about 200 jobs, including work for longshoremen, railroad workers and tug operators.

But those jobs depend on the strength of grain exports, which can and do vary widely from year to year. In the mid-1980s, for example, grain exports fell so low that only a handful of ships called at the terminal. Critics labeled the facility a classic case of overbuilding.

Grain exports eventually picked up, but recently crashed again as the Asian economies faltered. Last year, Cargill threatened to leave Seattle for Tacoma if the Port did not reduce the cost of the lease. The Port waived docking fees for six months, and Cargill agreed in writing to sign a new lease through most of 2005.

With Cargill now planning to shift operations to Tacoma after all, it remains to be seen whether there is a player big enough to fill its shoes.

Cargill, even before it acquired Continental last month, was the nation's largest exporter of grain; Continental was the second largest. Illinois-based Archer Daniels Midland, another large grain company, had earlier expressed interest in the facility, according to Port of Seattle officials, but spokesmen for the company refused to comment.

In the meantime, U.S. farm exports to Asia, despite signs of recovery, have fallen. The Department of Agriculture expects the value of farm exports to fall 9 percent to $49 billion for 1999, although sales of grains and vegetables to the Asia-Pacific region were up 22 percent in April to $4.3 billion.

Cargill's operating profit for the 1999 fiscal year that ended May 31 fell 53 percent to $220 million. The company posted a fourth-quarter losse of $182 million.

Still, trade with Asia through the area is projected to grow in the coming years, and the Port is reluctant to envision a future without the grain business.

"It really adds to the diversified nature of the Port as far as a gateway for trade. It is a natural commodity for us to handle given our geography," Friedman said.

"It's ships coming into the harbor and tugboats working and just the whole romance."

Patrick Harrington's phone message number is 206-464-3328. His e-mail address is pharrington@seattletimes.com