It marked an outdoor adventure of a different sort when crews began demolishing the former REI headquarters in Kent this week to make room for two new warehouses.

REI, the specialty outdoor retailer that opened its headquarters in Kent in 1988, announced last year that employees would transition to working from home or small remote campuses. The company, founded in 1938 in Seattle, had planned to move in 2020 to a new site in Bellevue, but sold that property, and in December, sold the Kent site at 6750 S. 228th St.

Chicago-based Bridge Development Partners bought the 15.8 acres from REI for $24.6 million, according to King County property records.

Bridge Point Kent 300 plans to feature a 258,499-square-foot building with 36-foot clear heights, 32 exterior docks, 27 stalls for trailer parking, 296 stalls for car parking and two drive-in doors, according to a company press release. A second proposal is for a 50,529-square-foot building that will feature 32-foot clear heights, 11 exterior docks, 102 stalls for car parking and two drive-in doors.

Demolition of the four buildings on the site is expected to take 30 to 60 days, according to a Bridge Development spokesperson. The new project is scheduled to be completed and ready for occupancy in the first quarter of 2022.