Amazon to open 2 new massive fulfillment centers in Chicagoland

Amazon will build two fulfillment centers each spanning 855,000 square feet, creating more than 2,000 full-time jobs in Matteson and Markham.

The announcement represents yet another major expansion into the Chicagoland region for the e-commerce giant. When the projects — at 7001 Vollmer Road in Matteson and 15924 Western Ave. in Markham — are complete, Amazon will be operating 11 facilities in Illinois, with about 13,000 workers, according to the Chicago Sun Times.

Amazon will own its warehouse in Matteson, which is being developed by Atlanta-based Seefried Industrial Properties, Crain’s reported. It will lease the building in Markham, which was developed and owned by Indianapolis-based Scannell Properties. It’s not immediately clear how much the king of e-tail is paying to operate the spaces.

Amazon plans to use robotics to automate the shipping of smaller items such as books, electronics and small household items. Employees will work on the larger products.

As of December 2019, Amazon leased nearly 154 million square feet of warehouse space and owned just 4 million square feet, according to SEC filings as reported by The Real Deal. It’s one of the largest tenants in the country to some of the biggest landlords in the U.S.

In 2018, Amazon paid $3.4 billion on rental property and equipment and had $26.6 billion in lease commitments over the next five years. [Chicago Sun-Times, Crain’s] — James Kleimann