ACCORDING TO SEVERAL media reports, ecommerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. will be bringing a giant fulfillment centre to the former Ford assembly plant site in Talbotville, with construction to redevelop the site this week.
Fulfillment centres are huge warehouses that help Amazon store products, ship them and handle returns quickly. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant is on an expansion spree on the back of a meteoric rise in its business, thanks to a surge in online orders during coronavirus-induced lockdowns.
Story Continues Below
Speculation regarding Amazon’s interest in the site has been swirling in recent months. The Talbotville site would join the company’s two new leased warehouses in London ― one at Huron Street and Robins Hill Road and a second at 580 Industrial Road. Both facilities will be operational in the upcoming months, and its expected the warehouses will employ more than 100 workers.
According to reports, Broccolini Construction has purchased the entire Ford Talbotville site. The firm, which has offices in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa, is building additional Amazon centres in Canada, and will often purchase and redevelop sites and lease the buildings to Amazon.
Story Continues Below
Amazon currently operation 10 distribution facilities in Ontario and 16 across Canada, with a number of new development applications having been filed by the company, most of them just outside major population centres.
The Ford site ― 254 hectares of land on Highway 4 south of Highway 401 ― closed in 2011 after 44 years of operation.
London Inc. Weekly: A summary of regional business news from the past week
Dispatch: A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus upcoming events for the week ahead
A summary of recent commercial real estate activity in London
173 Langarth Street East: $1,399,999 for a custom-designed modern home in Wortley Village
Food Basics marks their 30th anniversary with the opening of its latest store ― its 147th location in Ontario ―…