June 24, 2020 By Michael Dorgan
Amazon will not back down when it comes to Queens.
Having scrapped plans to build office headquarters in Long Island City last year, the tech giant has confirmed it will open a massive new delivery station in Maspeth.
Amazon has signed a lease on 55-15 Grand Avenue and plans to build a 1 million-square-foot building on the site, Business Insider first reported Tuesday.
The current location is occupied by a former paper factory and will be demolished to make way for a new multi-story structure. A spokesperson for Amazon confirmed the reports to Fox Business Wednesday. A construction timeline is not known.
The current site was purchased two years ago by developers RXR Realty and LBA Realty. The two firms paid $72 million for the location and will now team up with Amazon to build a custom made facility for the company to distribute its packages.
The new structure will be consist of a 250,000 square foot delivery station. The remaining 750,000 square feet will be a dedicated space for Amazon’s fleet of delivery vans.
Amazon packages are transported to its delivery stations after they are processed at fulfillment centers. The packages are then transported by van to customers.
The site is a strategic location for Amazon and will provide the company with access to Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.
The new delivery station will create hundreds of job opportunities for the area, the Amazon spokesperson said.
The news comes as the trillion-dollar company looks to expand its operations across the city.
Amazon already operates a distribution station at 26-15 Boody St. in Woodside and has an 850,000 square foot fulfillment warehouse in Staten Island. A new 450,000 square foot delivery station will open alongside the Staten Island facility later this month.
The company also has a fulfillment center in Manhattan and signed off on a lease for 335,000 square feet of office space in Hudson Yards in December.
The e-commerce giant has also signed a lease for a warehouse in South Bronx.
Reports of Amazon looking into opening a logistics facility in Brooklyn’s Industry City would mean the company would have a presence in each of the five boroughs.