Amazon coming to Hot Springs

Online retailer plans to open ‘last-mile’ shipping facility

HOT SPRINGS — Amazon is entering into an agreement for a new last-mile facility in Hot Springs, the Hot Springs Metro Partnership announced Friday.

“This new facility will be approximately 35,500 square feet located along Central Avenue. Launch plans for this delivery station are in the very early stages, with renovations to the existing building scheduled to start in the coming weeks,” the partnership said in a news release.

An Amazon official with the e-commerce giant confirmed the facility will be located at 3315 Central Ave. The more than 50,000-square-foot building was home to a data processing service. Before that it was a grocery store.

The Hot Springs Board of Directors adopted the planning commission’s recommendation to rezone the 3-acre parcel behind the property in January. The owner requested regional commercial/open display, or C-4, zoning. The lot’s previous general business district, or C-2, designation didn’t allow the “wholesale, enclosed” land use needed to operate a warehouse.

According to property records, the owner of the 3-acre parcel also owns 3315 Central Ave., which was already zoned C-4.

The release said last-mile facilities are the “final stops in Amazon’s transportation network before packages are delivered to customers’ doorsteps. Employees sort packages according to delivery routes who finish the shipping cycle by delivering goods like books, household items and toys.”

“This last-mile facility will allow us to better serve customers in Hot Springs and the surrounding area,” Jessica Breaux, senior manager of economic development for Amazon, said in the release.

Amazon employs about 4,000 people in Arkansas and has invested $1.9 billion in compensation and infrastructure in the state since 2010. Most hourly employees in customer fulfillment and transportation earn between $17 and $28 per hour, the release said.