This article originally appeared in our sister publication the Milwaukee Business Journal.
Amazon is in talks to take over another large industrial building along Interstate 94 in Wisconsin and create hundreds of jobs in the process, according to several real estate sources.
The e-commerce giant is in talks to lease the 748,300-square-foot distribution center that Chicago developer Logistics Property Co. built speculatively west of Interstate 94 near the Highway 142 interchange. Logistics Property, in a Jan. 17 application to the city of Kenosha, said it is in talks with an undisclosed tenant that is interested in leasing the building for a distribution center with about 300 workers. Seasonal employment could increase to 500, according to the application.
Real estate sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because it is not yet confirmed that Amazon is the prospective tenant. If the deal comes together, it would bring Amazon's footprint in southern and southeast Wisconsin close to 7 million square feet of distribution centers.
The deal with Logistics Property would be for a relatively short-term lease compared with Amazon’s agreements with other developers that build local centers specifically for the online retailer, according to sources. That would likely mean a few years.
Kenosha’s Plan Commission is to review Logistics Property's application for the unnamed tenant on Feb. 20.
Logistics Property responded to inquiries with an emailed statement attributed to Aaron Martell, executive vice president – Midwest Region, that said “The building is vacant and available for lease.”
Media representatives at Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The pending lease is another example of Amazon building out its distribution network in Wisconsin. Through the end of 2017, the company reported 3,481 Wisconsin employees that would count toward its state tax credits awards, according to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. From 2014 through the end of 2018, it had spent nearly $245 million on projects, according to a report to the WEDC.
The operation in Kenosha would be set up to receive shipments from semi-trucks, and ship packages out on delivery vans, according to the application filed with the city of Kenosha.
That’s a similar strategy for Amazon’s operation in Sussex. The company currently is using 192,160 square feet of leased distribution space in Sussex. It expanded that center last year.
Amazon.com is seeking occupancy for a four-story fulfillment center in Oak Creek in April so it can begin interior installation of its robotics and other technology, according to the city of Oak Creek. That building is under construction near South 13th Street and Ryan Road.
Walls are going up in Beloit for a 1 million-square-foot facility that Amazon will occupy.
That’s all in addition to the 1.6 million square feet Amazon occupies in two buildings east of I-94 in Kenosha near the Logistics Property building. Those opened in 2015. The retailer also leases space near Miller Park Way in Milwaukee.
Those facilities alone exceed 6 million square feet of space.
The Amazon lease would reward the risk Logistics Property accepted in building the Kenosha facility. Even in the active I-94 corridor, Logistics Property built more speculative space at once than any other developer since the recession. Last year it started two speculative buildings with a combined 1.07 million square feet. The larger one that Amazon is reportedly pursuing was marketed from the start for e-commerce tenants.
Logistics Property owns more land along 128th Avenue for another five buildings with a combined 2.5 million square feet of additional space.
