DAYTONA BEACH: Amazon’s big central south developer of Daytona International Speedway wastes no time getting started.
Work on the long-term 2. 8 million square foot distribution center has already begun. Large mounds of dirt can now be seen on Amazon’s long drive along the south side of Bellevue Avenue, east of Williamson Boulevard. Dump trucks can also be seen entering and exiting the newly designated structure of the property across from Williamson, just south of Daytona Beach Racing.
On Dec. 1, the City of Daytona Beach Commission approved a $4 million set of economic incentives that the Seattle-based e-commerce giant sought to advance its plans to build the five-story distribution center.
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On Dec. 29, dallas, Texas-based allocation developer Hillwood Investment Properties closed its $13. 77 million acquisition of the 110 acres where NASCAR’s long-term Amazon facility will be, according to a special warranty deed filed with the Volusia County property. Office of the Evaluator.
It is the eastern part of NASCAR’s 211 acres owned by its subsidiaries Southeastern Hay.
NASCAR has retained the western portion of Lot 10 that is to be rezoned to allow it and his expansion spouse Hillwood to expand for other prospective tenants, said Jeff Boerger, NASCAR’s vice president of real estate. The call of the combined expansion area of 211 acres is 500 trade.
“We’re going to rezone with the city and county to make sure we’re in a position to move forward with long-term development, with fair rights,” Boerger said in an interview. “We don’t have an attitude at this stage. If someone knocks on our door in the long run, we will be in a position to leave. “
Hillwood is rising through Amazon that the e-commerce giant will lease over the long term. Hillwood is owned by Texas businessman Ross Perot Jr. , son of the former presidential candidate.
Amazon issued a press release Tuesday in which it outlined plans to open 3 new distribution services in Florida this year or in 2023. In addition to the planned distribution center in Daytona Beach, a last-mile delivery station is planned in Pasco County and a distribution center, or “half-mile” facility, arrives in Fort Pierce. A sorting center is where Amazon packages are shipped from its largest “first mile” distribution centers to be served through the zip code and then shipped to its last-mile delivery stations.
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The online retailer’s efforts to expand its distribution network are part of a push to offer more same-day and next-day deliveries to customers.
The planned “first mile” distribution center in Daytona Beach will feature complex robotics and is described in the press as 634,000 square feet.
Contacted Wednesday, John Magness, hillwood’s executive vice president, said Amazon’s facility will have five floors and 2. 8 million square feet as originally planned. “It’s just the footprint of the building,” he said of the square footage discussed in the press release. he added that one of the five degrees will be smaller than the others.
The target date for the opening of the Daytona Beach distribution center is overdue in 2023.
“We expect the Daytona facility to launch in late 2023, just in time for the holiday season,” Owen Torres, a Spokesman for Florida-based Amazon, wrote in an email.
Another national developer, Seefried Industries, finished a 1. 4 million-square-foot hub for Amazon along Interstate Four in Deltona in just nine months two years ago. The property, which included a mezzanine and a flat, opened in September 2020 and now employs 1,500 people.
Magness said it will take longer to build the five-story distribution center in Daytona Beach, in components because it will be supplied with robotic equipment. “It’s just a kind of building,” he said.
Seefried is also the developer of Amazon’s 66,000-square-foot last-mile delivery station that opened in September 2019 along the Mason Avenue extension, just north of Dunn Avenue, in Daytona Beach. The facility, which created several hundred jobs, the commerce giant’s first facility in Volusia County.
Amazon in its press release said downtown Daytona Beach, near the southeast corner of Williamson and Belleuve, will employ 1,000 employees. These staff will earn a minimum starting wage of $15 per hour, as well as benefits and opportunities to continue their education. .
Hillwood is also building a five-story, 2. 8 million-square-foot robot distribution center for Amazon in Richmond, Virginia, which is expected to open in time for this year’s holiday shopping season, as well as a last-mile delivery station in Homestead, Florida, which is nearing completion. Magness said.
Construction is also underway on an Amazon robot fulfillment center of 630,000 square feet in Tallahassee, which is expected to open later this year. This project, formerly known as “Project Mango,” one of six in Florida that the company announced last year, all set to open in 2022. The others were drop-off stations in Melbourne, Riviera Beach, Coral Springs and Pinellas Park (near St. Lawrence). Petersburg).
In addition, Amazon recently opened a “print on demand” facility on Boggy Creek Road in Orlando. The facility, which opened in November, employs another 120 people and prints books when Amazon consumers place an order.
Amazon recently operates 49 logistics services and employs more than 52,000 full- and part-time workers in Florida.
“We are excited to expand our network to better serve our consumers in Florida,” Sam Blatt, Amazon’s lead economic progress officer, said in the press release. “We are grateful for the strength we have gained from local and state leaders as we expand our presence in the Sunshine State. We look to the future to create more than 1500 smart jobs (at their planned services in Daytona Beach, Fort Pierce and Pasco County) for the state and contribute definitively to the community. “
Amazon’s robot center in Daytona Beach is expected to charge $200 million to build and equip.
“Amazon’s investment in our city is a wonderful victory for the people of Daytona Beach,” Mayor Derrick Henry said in the press release. a strong benefits package and a school incentive program. “
Daytona Beach City Commissioner Stacy Cantu lives in the Pelican Bay network, south of Amazon’s long-running facility. neighbors were involved in Hillwood and NASCAR’s plans to expand the remaining hundred acres west of Amazon’s long-term facility.
Beville Road ends at the intersection of Interstate 4 and Interstate 95, just west of Williamson, making it a primary direction for 18-wheelers carrying goods to and from Amazon’s long-term facility.
Hillwood’s plans for the Commerce 500 progression come with the structure of a new highway from Beville southward, across from one of the entrances to Pelican Bay, north of Amazon’s fulfillment center.
In addition, Daytona Beach International Airport, controlled through Volusia County, has several hundred acres of undeveloped land, either east of the planned Amazon/Commerce 500 complex and north via Bellevue Avenue.
Cyrus Callum, the county’s director of aviation and economic resources, expressed hope in recent interviews that Amazon’s presence will pique developer and end-user interest in distribution centers and/or smooth production services on the vacant lot of the South Parcel airport property.
Callum said some of the airport’s undeveloped homes along Beville’s north side may eventually be restaurants or retail outlets looking to cater in part to long-term Amazon workers.
Cantu said she and her neighbors would like to see Amazon truck traffic diverted to Williamson to and from Beville, or take the access road the county approved Nov. 11. 2 for Hillwood to believe on the east side of the center of long-term realization. The planned access road through Hillwood would lead to the east gate of Pelican Bay.
“We are not satisfied that more than six hundred semi-trailers are coming out of the front of our Pelican Bay east door,” Cantu said. “We were told it was part of the county master plan they had been running for years. . We’d like him to talk about Williamson. “
As for the Amazon facility itself, Cantu said, “Most citizens here agree (with that). We want jobs. Amazon agreed to pay 95% of the tuition for its workers to go to school and you don’t. I don’t want to have a career with them. He sold me.
Hillwood and NASCAR formed a partnership last year to evaluate excess NASCAR-owned land at or adjacent to its 13 motorsports tracks across the country, adding Daytona International Speedway. Hillwood is recently building an 800,000-square-foot distribution center for the Urban Outfitters store along Kansas Speedway and is also partnering with NASCAR to expand Amazon’s robot distribution center in Richmond, Virginia, as well as projects in Southern California. and South Florida. The latter is where the Speedway Commerce hub is being set up which includes the long-term Amazon delivery station. built next to the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“Since March 2020, we have been collaborating with Hillwood to compare the highest and most productive land use not used lately at all NASCAR-owned racetracks,” NASCAR Executive Vice President Lesa France Kennedy said in a separate press release issued through Hillwood. “With their help, we have contributed to greater long-term economic progress in several communities in which we operate, in addition to the state of Florida. “
Frank Kelleher, president of Daytona International Speedway, praised NASCAR’s partnership with Hillwood in the press release.
“We are the first motorsport occasion in the United States with the Daytona 500,” he said. “But bringing in new businesses, new industries and boosting volusia County’s overall economy is also a primary goal of our society. “
The Volusia Economic Development Corp. team also issued a press release this week praising Amazon’s long-term facilities, as well as Hillwood and NASCAR’s plans to expand the rest of its Commerce 500 complex.
“Leveraging our strengths with motivated professionals is the opportunity and how it thrives, as evidenced through the partnership with NASCAR to bring this task to life effectively for our community,” said Keith Norden, executive director of Team Volusia, the public/private. association formed in 2010 to recruit businesses in Volusia County.
Daytona Beach City Manager Deric Feacher praised the Amazon/Commerce 500 allocation as “a step forward for our city. “