Developers to close on land for local Amazon warehouse
Developers are expected to purchase 130 acres in southeast Orlando as soon as this week to make way for a massive warehouse for one of the nation’s largest retailers — Internet-sales giant Amazon, sources said.
Sale details for the site at Boggy Creek Road and Jeff Fuqua Boulevard, south of Orlando International Airport, are still emerging, but multiple sources say the transaction is expected to be completed.
The price has not been disclosed. It will likely be the highest price paid for industrial property in Central Florida.
Part of the deal hinged on the widening Boggy Creek Road 1.5 miles from Wetherbee Road to South Access Road.
Orange County’s long-planned road project was to be tackled in phases. The $14 million stretch needed by the fulfillment center is being expedited with Crockett Development Property LLC, an affiliate of Lake Nona developer Tavistock Development Company, handling the design, permitting, bidding and managing construction for the public roadway.
Orange County will reimburse the developer and award impact-fee credits, according to an agreement approved by the county in April.
Seefried Industrial Properties filed plans for the warehouse with Orange County. In emails to the county, Seefried named Amazon as the tenant. The industrial developer also corresponded with the county about transportation improvements, such as an expansion of Boggy Creek Road. Seefried did not return calls Wednesday.
Amazon would have a 15-year lease on the facility, according to emails.
Based in Seattle, the online shopping behemoth strengthened its hold on Florida with last year’s completion of a distribution center in Ruskin, near Tampa. With about 1 million square feet, that center is expected to be similar in size to the one planned for about 855,000 square feet in Orlando. Another similar center is being constructed in Jacksonville, and the giant online retailer also has a space in Miami and southwest of Orlando near Plant City.
The land is owned by an affiliate of The Tavistock Group, developers of the nearby 11-square-mile Lake Nona community of residential, retail, offices, medical and a sports district. The Amazon property includes about 70 usable acres, and parking could take up half of that acreage, according to sources and documents. Tavistock officials had no comment. The site slated for “Project Mojo,” as it had been called, will consume more than 130 acres, Growthspotter.com reported in April.
The proposed structure is expected to include three levels manned by an advanced robotics system equipped to quickly stock and retrieve hundreds of thousands of products from across the retail spectrum. In addition to its trademark automated systems, Amazon employs teams of laborers, administrators and managers. State records report average wages of $47,689 at its Hillsborough County plant and $41,202 at a warehouse in Polk County. Those annual earnings may appear high since top-level salaries are included in the averages.