Amazon Plans $200M Florida Robotics Facility

Amazon Fulfillment Center in Tallahassee, Fla. Image courtesy of Amazon

In its ongoing effort to meet customers’ call for faster deliveries, Amazon is increasing its operations in Florida with the planned addition of six new facilities. The e-commerce giant plans to open a $200 million robotics fulfillment center spanning 630,000 square feet, in addition to five delivery stations across the state.

Amazon’s expansion comes as no surprise; the company has been in growth mode across the country for quite some time. “As we think about the pull forward in demand we’ve seen these past 18 months, it has required and will continue to require a significant amount of investment in our fulfillment network,” Brian Olsavsky, Amazon’s CFO, said during the company’s second quarter earnings call.

The six new Amazon sites in Florida will include a robotics fulfillment center at 6720 Mahan Drive in Tallahassee. Construction of the facility will take place near the Mahan Drive/Interstate 10 interchange and will get underway just a few weeks from now, in September.

Local officials welcome the project, and its accompanying 1,300 full-time jobs, with open arms and helped lure the development to the area with a $2.5 million incentives package that the Intergovernmental Agency Board will make available through the Office of Economic Vitality’s Targeted Business Program.

The five new Amazon delivery stations will serve as last-mile facilities. The properties will open at 3998 Sarno Road in Melbourne; 1301 President Barack Obama Highway in Riviera Beach; 4000 NW 126th Ave. in Coral Springs; 16300 Lee Road in Fort Myers; and 6101 45th St. N in St. Petersburg. With the five new centers will come an additional 1,000 new full-time positions. Amazon expects to open all six sites by the close of 2022.

Keeping pace in the Sunshine State and beyond

Amazon’s flurry of activity in Florida is not an effort to play catch up; the company has been making regular investments in the area since 2010. Presently, Amazon’s customer fulfillment and delivery operations portfolio in Florida exceeds 50 facilities, 10 of which made their debut in 2020. Most recently, the company revealed that it will open a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Port St. Lucie in 2022. However, Amazon’s expansion endeavors extend well beyond Florida.

As Olsavsky noted during the earnings call: “There’s more work to do, including additional buildouts of our (fulfillment centers) as well as our middle-mile and last-mile capabilities, to support our fast-improving delivery offers for customers.”