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Communities Near Warehouses Unprotected by Outdated Zoning Codes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 But outdated zoning codes often let them slip through the cracks with no environmental review.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.
Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?
Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?
Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.
Updating LA’s Tree Rules Could Bring More Shade to Underserved Neighborhoods
A new USC study finds that relaxing Los Angeles’ outdated tree planting guidelines could significantly expand urban tree canopy and reduce shade disparities in lower-income neighborhoods, though infrastructure investments are also needed.
California's Canal Solar Projects Aim to Conserve Resources and Expand Clean Energy
California’s Project Nexus has begun generating electricity from solar panels installed over irrigation canals, with researchers and state agencies exploring statewide expansion to conserve water and boost clean energy production.
HHS Staff Cuts Gut Energy Assistance Program
The full staff of a federal program that distributes heating and cooling assistance for low-income families was laid off, jeopardizing the program’s operations.
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