Amazon has dropped another big warehouse into its overflowing shopping cart, this time on Chicago’s Southwest Side.
The e-commerce giant confirmed it has leased a 317,000-square-foot industrial building at 3507 W. 51st St., in Gage Park, the latest in a series of big Chicago-area leases it has signed this year. The company plans to hire hundreds of people at the warehouse—it wouldn’t be more specific—which is less than three miles from Midway International Airport.
Amazon, which began opening distribution centers outside Chicago several years ago, has been rapidly encircling the city in the past year, aiming to build storage capacity and shorten delivery times as more consumers shop online.
With the coronavirus pandemic boosting its growth prospects, the online retailer has gone on a stunning binge since March. Amazon agreed to lease or buy a whopping 11 million square feet of industrial space in the Chicago area in the second quarter, according to Colliers International. Last month, the company revealed plans for two massive fulfillment centers in Markham and Matteson that would employ a combined 2,000 people. In the city, Amazon is opening a distribution center in Pullman on the South Side that will employ as many as 400 people.
In Gage Park, Amazon will move into a new empty warehouse built buy Conor Commercial, a Rosemont-based developer. It’s considered a “last-mile” distribution center, the final stop for products before they are delivered to homes or businesses. About 5.2 million people live within a 30-minute drive of the property, according to Conor’s website, a big plus for a company like Amazon, which has made shortening its delivery times a top priority.
“We are excited to increase our investment in Chicago with a new delivery station to provide fast and efficient delivery for customers, and provide hundreds of job opportunities for the talented local workforce,” Amazon spokeswoman Kirsten Wenker said in a statement.
She declined to comment further. A Conor executive declined to comment.
Amazon isn’t the only retailer gobbling up last-mile industrial space in the city. Target plans to move into a massive distribution center being built in Little Village, a project that has come under fire from nearby residents and city officials after the botched demolition of an existing power plant on the site that blanketed nearby homes in dust.
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July 16, 2020 at 07:01AM
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Amazon plans big distribution center on Southwest Side - Crain's Chicago Business
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