ORLANDO, Fla. – Amazon announced Monday it will expand its internet retailing empire by building a massive fulfillment center south of Orlando International Airport.
The Seattle-based company spent months working to purchase the land for the project, which will employ 1,500 full-time workers and will open in 2018, Amazon said in a statement.
“We are excited to join the Orlando community, creating more than 1,500 full-time jobs at our new fulfillment center,” Akash Chauhan, Amazon vice president of North America operations, said in a statement. “We very much appreciate the state and local elected leaders who have supported Amazon’s arrival in Orlando, and we look forward to bringing more jobs and investment to the state in the coming months.”
Amazon said the new warehouse and shipping center will be more than 850,000 square feet and “will pick, pack and ship small items to customers like books, electronics or consumer goods.” The facility’s actual square footage could grow to be three times as big with the addition of mezzanines to accommodate robots, as has been done at other warehouses in the state.
