THORNTON – June 12, 2017 – The city of Thornton announces today that Amazon, the electronic commerce and cloud computing company, is building a new fulfillment center in Thornton.
The footprint of the new building Amazon is working with Trammell Crow Company to build is 855,000 square feet, but the building will have three floors making it a 2.4 million square foot fulfillment and robotics center on about 80 acres at the Northeast corner of Interstate 25 and 144th Avenue. Construction is set to begin in early June of this year with an anticipated opening date of August, 2018. The facility will be different than the other fulfillment centers in Colorado because it will be an Amazon Sort Facility, meaning it will only handle product that is 18 inches and smaller and includes a large amount of robotics. The facility is anticipated to employ over 1,500 full-time people with an increase for seasonal workers around the holidays.
“We are excited to continue growing in Colorado with the new Amazon Robotics fulfillment center in Thornton,” said Akash Chauhan, Amazon’s Vice President of North American Operations. “This facility will utilize Amazon Robotics, vision systems, and more than 20 years’ worth of software and mechanical innovations. We are grateful for the support we have received from state and local leaders who have helped make this project possible.”
The 2.4 million square foot facility will be the largest industrial building in Colorado. Given the short timeframe of just 14 months for development of such a large scale and innovative facility, the project required an “all hands on deck” approach from the development team in Thornton. Thornton’s business-friendly development process made this project possible in the timeframe allowed. This includes the recently implemented Economic Significance program, which allows for administrative development review for projects in the North I-25 corridor.
“The city of Thornton is extremely excited Amazon chose to locate this state-of-the art facility in Thornton. Amazon’s commitment to the communities where their fulfillment centers are located is impressive” said Thornton Mayor Heidi Williams. “They will be the largest employer in Thornton and represent the cutting edge of innovation in the e-commerce market. This highlights what a great location Thornton is for Fortune 500 companies and will continue to advance Thornton’s employment center in the Northern part of the city”.
“The city of Thornton understands economic development and has the attitude and processes necessary to attract job growth,” stated Bill Mosher, Senior Managing Director of Trammell Crow Company’s Denver Business Unit. Mosher added, “Our original interest in this site was based on excellent access and strong demographics related to employment and growth. For a company of Amazon’s stature to select Thornton and this site, it is a testimonial of the future of the north I-25 corridor.”
“We are pleased to continue working with Amazon as it grows and creates jobs in Colorado,” said Governor John Hickenlooper. “Our talented workforce will have the opportunity to learn new, valuable skills with Amazon and work alongside innovative technology. We look forward to the great jobs with competitive wages and comprehensive benefits that Amazon will bring to the state.”
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews
About the City of Thornton
The City of Thornton is the 6th largest City in the State of Colorado with room to grow. The City is only half built-out, offering plentiful opportunities for commercial development with easy access to I-25, I-70, and E-470, as well as to Denver International Airport. Thornton is located just 10 miles north of Downtown Denver and within an hour’s drive of all of the region’s major educational and research institutions. One of the primary goals for Thornton is to attract more employment projects and with our “Project of Economic Significance” designation, all new office and industrial development will be done with administrative review only, saving the end user time and money. Please contact our Economic Development staff for more information on Thornton.
About Trammell Crow Company
Trammell Crow Company (TCC), founded in 1948, is one of the nation’s leading developers and investors in commercial real estate. The Company has developed or acquired more than 2,600 buildings valued at more than $60 billion and over 565 million square feet. As of January 31, 2017, TCC had $5.9 billion of projects in process and $5.1 billion in its pipeline. Trammell Crow Company’s teams are dedicated to building value for its clients with professionals in 16 major cities throughout the United States. The company serves users of and investors in office, industrial, retail, healthcare, multi-family residential, through its operating subsidiary High Street Residential and mixed use projects. For those who occupy real estate, TCC can execute the development or acquisition of facilities tailored to meet its clients’ needs. For investor clients, the company specializes in joint venture speculative
development, acquisition/re-development ventures, build-to-suit development or providing incentive-based fee development services. TCC is an independently operated subsidiary of CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, and the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (in terms of 2015 revenue). For more information visit www.TrammellCrow.com.