While many companies are temporarily pumping the brakes on expansion due to COVID-19, Amazon is aggressively eyeing more space throughout the country, including North Texas.
As of this week, Amazon occupied 11.4 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space in North Texas across 20 facilities, according to CoStar. The company is also expected to take an additional 2.3 million square feet by the end of year, CoStar says.
Some of this new space will include a 1 million-square-foot warehouse near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which is expected to open later this year. Located at 2601 S. Airfield Drive, the company confirmed the new facility in February, saying it would create 1,000 jobs. In March, a company spokesperson said Amazon was looking to hire 100,000 people across the country, including some 3,300 in North Texas. It is not knows how many employees the company already has locally, but it is believed to be in the thousands.
Other potential warehouse locations have reported on recently, but have not been confirmed by Amazon. When reached on Wednesday, a company spokesperson said Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) does not comment on rumors or speculation. They also did not confirm the company’s total footprint locally.
Amazon’s presence in North Texas has not only helped create thousands of jobs, but is potentially driving some of the larger spec warehouse development the region has seen lately, experts say.
“it sure feels that way. This year, I can’t recall anyone who has leased 1 million square feet of spec space other than Amazon,” said Allen Gump.
At the end of the second quarter, North Texas had about 23.5 million square feet of new industrial space under construction, according to Cushman & Wakefield, with 89 percent being spec space. North Texas continues to lead the nation in industrial construction while enjoying its 18th consecutive quarter with more than 20 million square feet under construction, according to JLL.
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By Ryan Salchert – Staff Writer, Dallas Business Journal – Aug 6, 2020, 10:25am EDT