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Despite its statement this year that it would pull back from industrial real estate, Amazon recently purchased 120 acres in the Coachella Valley that are approved for a multistory industrial development.
The e-commerce giant paid $13.4M to Atlanta-based Seefried Industrial Properties for land in Desert Hot Springs, a city with about 33,000 residents just north of Palm Springs, The Real Deal reported.
Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.
Though the area is not entirely synonymous with warehouses like Moreno Valley, Riverside or other parts of the western Inland Empire, logistics experts have said that they expect this region to be one of the early beneficiaries of spillover from those popular and increasingly expensive warehouse locations.
In April, e-commerce giant Amazon announced that it would pump the brakes on its rapid industrial expansion and sublease between 10M and 30M SF of its warehouse space nationally, including in Southern California. It has also delayed the openings of several fulfillment centers.
But the property it bought appears to be destined for just that kind of development. Seefried received approvals in March to build a multistory, 3.4M SF warehouse and distribution center that would span more than 90 acres between 19th and 20th avenues along Calle de Los Romos, Coachella Valley ABC affiliate KESQ reported at the time.
The building would be five levels and 105 feet tall, according to city documents.
TRD noted that the actual construction of the property would take years to develop and build, but KESQ reported that Seefried, which sold the property to Amazon, planned to begin construction on the facility this month, wrap up by September 2023 and have the center up and running by the end of 2023.
Calls to the Desert Hot Springs building division were not immediately returned.
Amazon is building a 4.1M SF warehouse in Ontario now.
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