Tech Giant Amazon Expands to Sunset Park, Near Industry City

One of the world’s biggest companies, e-commerce behemoth Amazon, is coming to Brooklyn. The tech giant, which has a bigger market cap than Wal-mart and is No. 35 on the Fortune 500 list, is opening a distribution center in Sunset Park.

The online leviathan has signed a seven-year lease at Salmar Properties’ Liberty View Industrial Plaza at 850 3rd Avenue, according to The Real Deal. The facility is on the waterfront and next door to Industry City.

Amazon’s new neighbors in the eight-story, 1,100,000-square-foot complex will be Bed Bath & Beyond and Koppers Chocolate.

It is unclear how much space Amazon will be occupying, but the deal could be worth some $19,000,000.

Bed, Bath & Beyond and Koppers Chocolate take up a combined 170,000 square feet of space. The remaining 930,000 square feet are vacant, according to CoStar.

Rents in the building go from the high $20s to low $30s, a source familiar with the building shared with The Real Deal. The Internet giant’s lease is for seven years, and two five-year renewal options are available.

Amazon’s first distribution center in Brooklyn highlights the growing importance of the borough and Sunset Park’s resurgence and growing importance as a shipping, retail, design and maker center. This is not Amazon’s first venture into Kings County — the company opened a photo studio in Williamsburg back in 2013.

Amazon has been growing quickly and adding distribution centers across the country in the last two years. It typically locates its warehouses in areas where workers and rents are cheap. This center is likely to be focused on New York City deliveries — possibly even specifically for Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens.

Amazon just opened a fulfillment center in New Jersey and offices in Manhattan.

Despite recent negative hype regarding Amazon workplace conditions, the largest online retailer is likely to bring many jobs to the area.

[Source: TRD | Top photos: Steve Jurvetson and via Industry City]

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