Amazon.com Inc. appears to be moving quickly to establish a network of seven last-mile distribution facilities in Maryland, including at least two in Prince George’s County, after disclosing its plan late last month.
The Seattle e-commerce and cloud computing company filed several applications with Prince George’s County during the past few months to renovate or develop industrial buildings in target areas identified in its June disclosure, according to public documents and sources familiar with the situation. That includes one application to convert a warehouse facility in Upper Marlboro that DPI Specialty Foods shuttered last year into a package distribution facility. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) acquired the roughly 276,000-square-foot building at 1000 Prince Georges Blvd. from DPI for nearly $35 million in April, according to a special warranty deed filed with circuit court in the county.
Amazon did not disclose specific sites in its June announcement, referring only to “delivery stations” at vaguely described geographic locations in Lanham and Upper Marlboro among others, but permit and land records filed with the county reveal more detail. At the former DPI facility, for example, it submitted multiple applications from March to as recently as Monday for building improvements. That includes one the county described in online permit information as a “mega project” involving an Amazon/DPI Specialty Foods fit-out.
