Amazon Adds El Paso to Fulfillment Center Lineup

Image courtesy of Amazon

Three years ago, El Paso, Texas, officials were among the hundreds of cities and regions across the U.S. vying to be the location of Amazon’s second headquarters. It didn’t win the big prize, but the hard work put in to preparing a bid for the HQ2 paid off this week, when Amazon announced it was building its first fulfillment center in El Paso. The 625,000-square-foot center is expected to open in 2021 and create more than 700 full-time jobs.

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Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon’s vice president of global customer fulfillment, cited the strong support Amazon received from local and state leaders. She noted in prepared remarks that the global e-commerce company was excited to be growing its operations in West Texas and looked forward to building out its network in El Paso.

El Paso Mayor Dee Margo recalled a press conference three years ago when the city announced its plans to get Amazon to El Paso.

“Today my administration delivered,” Margo said in a prepared statement. He pointed to the collaboration between Amazon, the City, El Paso County and Borderplex Alliance, a regional nonprofit economic development organization.

Margo told the El Paso Times Amazon selected El Paso for the new distribution center because of its location next to New Mexico and Mexico, and its advanced logistics and transportation systems.

Jon Barela, CEO of Borderplex Alliance, called the new Amazon fulfillment center “one of the most significant economic development projects for our region in decades.”

Once the center opens, Amazon employees will work alongside Amazon robotics to pick, pack and ship small items to customers such as books, electronics and toys. Located between Rojas Drive and Interstate 10, the site is being developed by Dallas-based owner Hillwood for Amazon.

More Texas projects

The El Paso fulfillment center is among several properties the e-commerce giant is either leasing or building in Texas. Amazon also announced this week it had signed a full-building lease for an upcoming sortation center near Austin, Texas. Amazon will occupy the 307,840-square-foot Building 2 within Majestic Realty Co.’s Kyle Crossing Business Park in Kyle, Texas. The sortation center is expected to bring 200 jobs to the area, which is about 15 miles from downtown Austin. Last week, Amazon also unveiled plans for a fulfillment center that will be at least 820,000 square feet in Pflugerville, Texas. The site is about 15 miles from downtown Austin and is the only Central Texas community with both north-south and east-west highway access. In June, construction began on an 850,000-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center in Richmond, Texas, about 25 miles from downtown Houston.