- Construction could start in March
- Almost 600 jobs
We’ve all heard the quip, If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.
Well the proposed “Package Delivery Warehouse” project publicly noticed by the City of Santa Maria a few days ago with parking for nearly 1,000 vehicles – fits right in. The new distribution complex, made public with the launch of an Environmental Impact Report on August 14, would be located on a 32-acre site, currently planted to crops, at 1680 West Stowell Road in Santa Maria. But nobody says who it is.
The proposed “last mile” delivery center at 169,000 square feet is similar in size and layout to other Amazon centers being built around the country to deliver perishable groceries and other products to your door the same day. News watchers will notice that Amazon on August 14 announced expansion of same-day delivery rolling out over the next couple of years to many rural areas of the country requiring construction of new delivery centers to make it happen.
Amazon says in a news release they would invest $4 billion to expand rural deliveries with an expansion into 13,000 zip codes and creating 100,000 new jobs. Amazon is already the nation’s largest job generator creating 500,000 jobs across the country in the past five years.
The new focus is on groceries delivered to your door on the same day you order them. Perishable products will be delivered in temperature-sensitive insulated bags that are recyclable the company says.
Mum’s the word
Similar to many Amazon construction projects that are shrouded in mystery with the company typically tight-lipped until they start hiring, Amazon nor the Santa Maria project developer Seefried Industrial Properties will make any comments. Seefried has worked with Amazon all across the country, including Florida, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, and California.
The city remains mum as well. Community Development Director Chenin Dow says Santa Maria has been working with the developer for six months but does not expect any kind of public hearing until around the first of the year. A full-blown EIR will be required,Principal Planner Frank Albro expects. Asked if the applicant is Amazon, they agree “we can’t comment.”
Amazon has multiple fulfillment centers, larger distribution complexes, and an increasing number of smaller size delivery centers in California but none north of Oxnard or south of Salinas on the Coast.Speaking of Salinas, Amazon is under construction now on a 5-story, 3-million+ square foot advanced robotics fulfillment center just south of town, visible from 101.These guys are on the march.
Just this week Amazon broke ground on a new delivery distribution center in Redding covering northern California at a 34 acre city-owned parcel with plans to build a 95,000sf facility employing around 100.
Clearly there is a huge swath of California with no Amazon warehouses. Seefried Industrial Properties, based in Atlanta, has developed multiple Amazon facilities on long term leases including a delivery complex in Fresno and the 1.5 million square foot Amazon fulfillment center in Oxnard, California. Seefried is a so-called “spec builder” working on permitting a project ahead of a firm commitment by a tenant.
Amazon has a number of recently built last-mile delivery stations in California that are around the 100,000-200,000 square feet size including Clovis and Bakersfield.These facilities are critical for Amazon’s rapid delivery network and are a key area of expansion for the company.
Almost 600 jobs
This Santa Maria 24/7 package center will feature 345 delivery vans and 34 line haul trucks visiting the complex every day, says the Notice of Preparation for their EIR. The big project will create approximately 588 new jobs with construction potentially starting in March 2026. Community Development Director Dow says the new private employer will be one of the largest in the city.Most of the big non-public employers in Santa Maria are ag-related now.
The facility has some green aspects featuring solar panels, EV charging stations and a battery energy storage system.
While the main warehouse is 169,000sf, the buildings and canopies add up to 244,418sf figuring in the office, fleet service center and other support facilities.
Covering the Central Coast
The city report says vehicles making deliveries could travel up to 125 miles from Santa Maria implying deliveries could cover all of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. That would take in a population adding up to 750,000. Heading north, King City is 112 miles and to the south – Ventura is 90 miles.
Critics of the e-commerce giant’s expansion complain that the new surge by Amazon will be at the expense of ‘Mom and Pop’ stores locally.Already Amazon is being blamed for the demise of drugstores like Rite Aid that declared bankruptcy this year as more customers get their drugs online- often with Amazon. It may be grocery stores and other delivery services that feel the brunt of this new competition.After Amazon announced its same day expansion plans the stocks of DoorDash and Kroger each dropped by around 4%, and Walmart lost over 2.5%.