Amazon inks lease for Chicago warehouse; 12th statewide

Amazon has inked a lease for a 300,000-square-foot distribution center in Chicago’s Southwest Side, marking its 12th warehouse in the state.

The e-commerce giant has been particularly aggressive during the pandemic. In June, it said it would build two fulfillment centers of 850,000 square feet each, in Matteson and Markham. And in late April, it planned to lease a 1 million-square-foot warehouse in Industrial Park and a pair of 750,000-square-foot industrial buildings in Kenosha and Channahon.

In its latest move, Amazon told Crain’s it would occupy 3507 W. 51st St., in Gage Park. The vacant warehouse, which encompasses about 19 acres, was developed by Conor Commercial in 2018. An Amazon spokesperson told Crain’s it was “excited to increase our investment in Chicago with a new delivery station.”

The Jeff Bezos-led behemoth will add hundreds of workers to its payroll with the new space, on top of the 13,000 workers it is estimated to have in Illinois.

Since March, Amazon will have leased 11 million square feet of distribution centers and warehouses in the Chicago area, according to Crain’s.
As of December, Amazon had leased more than 150 million square feet of industrial space nationwide, and owned about 4 million square feet. [Crain’s] — Alexi Friedman