Amazon adds to its ‘last mile’ in Houston

Amazon will expand its Houston-area footprint with the opening of four more delivery stations later this year.

The stations will add to online retailer’s network of nine delivery stations serving the “last mile” of the delivery process.

The stations, which will create more than 300 full time jobs, receive products from regional Amazon fulfillment and sorting centers before being loaded onto vans for delivery to customers.

The locations are 9155 Derrington and 11311 N. Gessner in northwest Houston; at Northcrest and Spring Stuebner in Spring; and at U.S. 59 and the Grand Parkway in Porter.

“We are excited to continue our investment in Texas with new delivery stations across Houston that will create hundreds of new job opportunities and provide faster and more efficient delivery for customers,” Daniel Martin, an Amazon spokesperson, said in an announcement. “We look forward to continuing our growth in Texas and want to thank local and state leaders for their support in making these projects possible.”

Amazon is experiencing a surge in business as more people order online during the pandemic. Sales for the Seattle-based company reached $386 billion in 2020, an increase of 38 percent

over 2019.

The jobs created will pay a starting wage of $15 per hour and offer a variety of benefits packages, according to Amazon.

There will also be work opportunities for independent contractors delivering for Amazon Flex.

Amazon has been coordinating with the East Montgomery County Improvement District on a location since August.

“We are both excited and grateful to Amazon for seeing an opportunity to expand their growing network in this quickly developing area of Montgomery County,” district CEO Frank McCrady said in an announcement.

The delivery stations, which are all leased by Amazon, range from 140,000 to 360,000 square feet each, Martin said. Three will be built specifically for Amazon, while the facility at 9155 Derrington is being developed as a speculative project.

Amazon did not receive county economic incentives for the facilities, which are scheduled to begin opening in the summer and through the end of the year, according to Martin.

Amazon is also building a 180,000-square-foot delivery station at 4975 Gulf Freeway in La Marque and plans to open a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center on Texas 6 near the Fort Bend Tollway in Missouri City and an 850,000-square-foot sorting center at 10507 Harlem Road in Richmond.