[5] It would cost $953,000 to construct using funds from the state government to reimburse the Burlington Northern Railroad for the retirement of Union Station and relocation of nearby tracks.

[10] In March 2016, the state reached an agreement to purchase the required part of the building and demolish it to make way for the new station, with construction to begin in June 2016.

[11] Amtrak trains were rerouted away from Tacoma's shoreline and onto a new inland cutoff route, the Point Defiance Bypass, which opened with the new station on December 18, 2017.

The station is located in the Freighthouse Square building, a former warehouse rebuilt into a collection of small businesses and eateries near the Tacoma Dome.

[13][14] The old station was boarded up and later covered in graffiti and trash with visible signs of fires; BNSF stated that they were in the process of selling the building.