ROANOKE, Va. – A special delivery could soon be headed to the Star City: an Amazon last-mile delivery facility.
According to public documents, the company has its eyes set on a 49-acre site in the industrial section of the Bonsack area and is looking to buy the land from Deschutes Brewery.
[PREVIOUS REPORT: Speculation over major company coming to Roanoke]
But before the property can be sold to Amazon, the city must repay the federal government more than $1.5 million in grant funding that Deschutes was going to use to develop the site.
On Monday, Roanoke City Council unanimously approved an amendment to the original contract changing some of the language to help get rid of some of the restrictions preventing Amazon from fully moving forward.
Roanoke’s Director of Economic Development, Marc Nelson, talked about why Roanoke is the prime spot for a company like Amazon to come to.
“This was an ideal location for them because they it’s close to the interstate. It’s centrally located and the site is large enough to house what they wanted to do on it. It made a lot of sense for them to come in and build there.”
This comes after Deschutes announced that it was slated to construct an $85 million brewing facility at 2002 Blue Hills Drive in March 2016, with the hope of bringing hundreds of jobs to the Roanoke Valley.
However, the plan was brought to a halt as a result of several development delays caused, in part, by the coronavirus pandemic. For years, many have wondered what would become of the vacant piece of land.
“We’ve been in constant conversation with them just in case anything changed with their market position. It’s actually been a very favorable relationship with them. The fact that they actually wanted to work with us to make certain that we got somebody coming in the caliber of Amazon I think speaks well,” City Manager Bob Cowell said.
Now, we’re one step closer to knowing what could be in store for the site.
The document also states that the company would “serve as an excellent addition to our local economy.”
At this time, it is unclear how many jobs the fulfillment center would bring to Roanoke City should the proposal be approved.
We have reached out to Amazon for comment, and they provided the following statement:
We’re working with the City of Roanoke and local economic development partners regarding the potential for locating a last-mile delivery facility in the area. Progress has been made, but this is still tentative in nature and additional steps remain. We look forward to being able to share more in the future.
Ian Allen-Anderson, Amazon spokesperson
View Cowell’s full letter below:
Amazon looking at Roanoke City site by Jazmine Otey on Scribd
