Dive Brief:
- Amazon broke ground this week on its $1.5 billion Amazon Air hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) in Hebron, Kentucky.
- The hub will include its own ramp tower, onsite facilities for sortation and eventually space for up to 100 aircraft. The company said that the new facility will help it to deliver its Prime service commitment of "fast, free shipping for customers" and create 2,000 jobs. The retail giant expects construction to be complete and the new hub to be operational in 2021.
- Amazon's investment in the state totals $8 billion since 1999 and the CVG project will add to the company's 14 fulfillment and sortation centers, one customer service center and two Whole Foods Market stores there.
Dive Insight:
In April, the Cincinnati Business Courier reported that Amazon had selected the joint venture of Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. and Kokosing Construction Co. to act as general contractor for the project. Sarah Rhoads, the director of Amazon Air, confirmed that to the Portland Business Journal.
Additionally, Woolpert is providing planning, civil engineering and surveying, while AECOM is providing design services.
As more consumers buy items online from Amazon, the company is increasing its shipping capability, and that usually means new construction projects.
Late last year, for instance, Amazon announced that it had already started construction on a regional hub at Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, Texas. Amazon will reportedly begin flights out of that facility sometime this year. Both the CVG and Fort Worth hubs will help the company meet its goal of reduced reliance on carriers like UPS, the U.S. Postal Service and FedEx.
Amazon's growth also means expansion in areas unrelated to shipping. After a year-long search for the future location of its $5 billion second North American headquarters, Amazon selected two metros in which to split its investment and estimated 50,000 new positions — New York City and Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C.
Demolition and construction at the Virginia site are already underway in order to make room for the commercial, infrastructure and residential projects that will support an estimated 25,000 new employees. However, the New York City piece of the expansion was scuttled after pushback from local activists and politicians who were critical of the financial incentives being offered to cash-rich Amazon and how the company's move to Long Island City, New York, could affect the quality of life for existing residents.
