The company is building its biggest-ever distribution centers in New York, Colorado, and California.
Despite canceling or delaying more than 40 planned warehouse facilities, Amazon just won approval to build another massive distribution center in Niagara, New York. According to an article by Jack Daleo in FreightWaves, Amazon is already building two more megawarehouses: a five-story, 4.1 million-square-foot facility in Ontario, California, and a five-story, 3.8 million-square-foot project in Loveland, Colorado.”
The company is expected to open 250 additional facilities of various sizes in 2022. “Chief Financial Officer Brian Olslavsky estimated on the company’s earnings call that Amazon is allocating 40% of its spending capital to support warehouse and transportation capacity.” Meanwhile, the company lost 99,000 workers in the second quarter of 2022. “It’s a sign that the company elected not to replace the thousands of workers who left between April and June.”
Amazon has been buying significant swaths of real estate across the country, tripling its holdings of built industrial space between 2020 and 2022.
FULL STORY: Amazon is doubling down on its warehouse strategyz
Amazon Shifting From Land Lessee to Land Owner
Amazon has been tending to buy when previously it would have leased, and the trend has massive implications for the industrial real estate market.
Communities Near Warehouses Unprotected by Outdated Zoning Codes
Today’s massive modern distribution centers have outsized impacts on adjacent neighborhoods. But outdated zoning codes often let them slip through the cracks with no environmental review.
Warehouse Sprawl Prompts Calls for Regional Planning
As e-commerce giants like Amazon build more and more facilities, advocates say a regional approach is needed to prevent sprawl and look beyond local benefits.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
LA’s Tree Emergency Goes Beyond Vandalism
After a vandal destroyed dozens of downtown LA trees, Mayor Karen Bass vowed to replace them. Days later, she slashed the city’s tree budget.
Sacramento Leads Nation With Bus-Mounted Bike Lane Enforcement Cameras
The city is the first to use its bus-mounted traffic enforcement system to cite drivers who park or drive in bike lanes.
Seattle Voters Approve Social Housing Referendum
Voters approved a corporate tax to fund the city’s housing authority despite an opposition campaign funded by Amazon and Microsoft.
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