Amazon.com announced Dec. 10 it signed a lease at 250 Busch Drive in Imeson International Industrial Park for a last-mile delivery station and will hire “hundreds” of employees.
The North Jacksonville facility will help to speed up deliveries for customers in the Jacksonville area. It is expected to open in 2021, according to a news release.
The city issued a permit Oct. 13 for Threecore LLC in Sarasota to build-out a 477,946-square-foot warehouse at a cost of $15 million.
Building and related permits show the e-commerce facility will cost that amount and there likely will be further investment as conveyors and other equipment are installed.
This is the first time Amazon has confirmed the construction of the delivery station.
Construction plans for the project called it DJX3, an Amazon code.
These facilities “power the last mile of our order process and help speed up deliveries for customers,” the release said. Packages are shipped to the delivery station from nearby fulfillment and sortation centers, then loaded into delivery vehicles.
“Jacksonville’s location and logistics network that reaches 94 million same-day consumers combined with the accelerated growth of the e-commerce industry mean Amazon’s expansion efforts here will be successful for the company and our region’s residents,” JAXUSA Partnership President Aundra Wallace said in a statement.
“This investment made by Amazon will add hundreds of steady job opportunities for our workforce at a critical time,” he said.
JAXUSA is the economic development division of JAX Chamber.
Baker Barrios Architects Inc. of Orlando is the architect. EnVision Design + Engineering LLC is the civil engineer.
JEA and city Planning Department documents show the property will have 102 loading bays, 337 parking spaces and 133 spaces for trailer parking.
The release did not specify how many people will be needed to staff the facility, but said “hundreds” would be hired for full-time and part-time positions. Jobs pay at least $15 an hour.
“Amazon continues to demonstrate its confidence in Jacksonville’s strength as a logistics capital for the southeast with their continued growth in our city,” Mayor Lenny Curry said in the release.
“This new facility will employ hundreds of people, supporting local families and our economy.”
The Imeson International Industrial Park center is among the retailer’s 10 Northeast Florida projects built or announced in three years.
Amazon operates two area fulfillment centers — JAX2 at Pecan Park Road in Northwest Jacksonville and JAX3 in Cecil Commerce Center in West Jacksonville; the JAX5 Westside Industrial Park sortation center; and the AMXL HJX1 facility in Westside to handle heavy bulk freight.
The JAX7 softlines fulfillment facility is under construction in Imeson Park, not far from the new package delivery center.
Amazon also plans to open JAX9, a 278,237-square-foot center whose use has not been disclosed, in Cecil Commerce Center.
Amazon operates last-mile delivery centers with similar designations. The Cabot Commerce Circle facility in North Jacksonville is DJX1 and the Blanding Boulevard site under development in West Jacksonville is DJX2. Another, DJX6, is planned in St. Johns County.