OLIVE BRANCH, MISS. — Hillwood Investment Properties plans to build a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Olive Branch, approximately 25 miles from Memphis, for e-commerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). The facility will house picking, packing and shipping operations for larger customer orders and create 500 new full-time jobs.
According to The Clarion-Ledger, the new facility will be located within Hillwood’s Legacy Park, a 266-acre business park in DeSoto County. The Class A industrial campus has proximity to U.S. Highway 78 and Tennessee Highway 385; the BNSF and Norfolk Southern intermodal terminals; Memphis International Airport; FedEx Air and Ground hubs; and a UPS sort hub.
In 2018, Amazon unveiled plans for another fulfillment center in nearby Marshall County, leasing 554,000 square feet within Panattoni Development’s Gateway Global Logistics Center.
“Mississippi has proven itself to be a great place for Amazon to do business and gives us the opportunity to better serve our customers in the region,” says Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon’s vice president of global customer fulfillment. “We are excited about our growth and remain committed to creating a positive economic impact in the region with job opportunities that have great pay and benefits.”
No timeline for construction was disclosed.
Hillwood Investment Partners, a Perot company, is an industrial real estate developer and owner based in Dallas. Hillwood’s portfolio spans 46 markets in North America and Europe, and as of Sept. 30, 186.6 million square feet of industrial space has been developed or acquired by the company.
Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, Seattle-based Amazon is a global e-commerce company that staffs approximately 250,000 full-time employees in its network of distribution, fulfillment and sortation centers. Amazon has more than 175 operating facilities spanning more than 150 million square feet across the globe.
Amazon’s stock price closed on Monday, Nov. 18 at $1,757 per share, up from $1,512.29 a year ago.
— Sarah Daniels and John Nelson