Miami-Dade Moves to Hold Amazon Accountable For Closure

Miami-Dade County wants to hold billionaire Jeff Bezos’ e-commerce giant Amazon accountable for temporarily closing a warehouse near Homestead, a move that violates their 2020 agreement.

The county’s intergovernmental and economic impact committee on Wednesday voted to direct Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s administration to pursue “any and all necessary action” to enforce the deal between Miami-Dade and Amazon, through negotiation, demand or lawsuit, the South Florida Business Journal reported.

The item still needs approval from the full commission.

One route the agreement allows for is for a financial penalty of $8,000 for each missing job at the warehouse near Homestead. Under the agreement, Miami-Dade sold Amazon the land at 13200 Southwest 272nd Street for $22 million in 2020. In exchange, Amazon had to create 325 permanent jobs with an average annual salary of $32,000.

That means Amazon could be on the hook to pay the county $2.6 million.

Last month, Amazon said it will close the 1.3 million-square-foot facility for a two-year retrofit, affecting about 1,000 jobs.

The building is in an unincorporated area of south Miami-Dade and was completed in 2022, property records show.

Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, who represents portions of south Miami-Dade, sponsored the resolution.

“When doing business with Miami-Dade County, especially when it involves the private, for-profit acquisition of county land, the people’s land, promises made must be promises kept,” she told the publication.

For its part, Amazon said it’s been working to transfer employees at the facility to other warehouses in South Florida, including eight in Miami-Dade. Spokesperson Amber Plunkett said the company aims to find “a cooperative path forward” in working with the county, adding that more than 300 employees have already accepted transfers.

The south Miami-Dade facility is expected to reopen in 2028, reemploying about 1,000 workers, according to Amazon.

–– Lidia Dinkova