In Suffolk, Amazon.com Inc. is building what will be the state’s largest industrial building, a robotics fulfillment center. Photo by Mark Rhodes
Online retailing giant Amazon.com Inc. continues to expand its footprint in Virginia, bringing 1,500 jobs total to Suffolk and Chesapeake with the construction of operations facilities in those cities. Located less than two miles apart, both facilities are slated to open this year.
In Suffolk, Amazon is building a $230 million, multistory robotics fulfillment center in Northgate Commerce Park. At 95 feet and five stories tall, the facility will be the state’s largest industrial building and second in overall size to the Pentagon. A thousand employees, working in conjunction with robots, will pick, pack and ship customer orders, including books, home goods and electronics.
Amazon also is investing $50 million to build a 650,000-square-foot import processing center in Chesapeake’s Western Branch section. The first of its kind in Virginia, the processing center will employ 500 workers. Amazon is eligible for up to $250,000 in state funding for the Chesapeake project and up to $500,000 for the Suffolk project.
