TUCSON, Ariz. - It’s about to have an impact in Tucson that reaches beyond your front porch -- or the big new warehouse going up on South Kolb. Amazon is adding another warehouse--this one on Tucson's west side.
It was a big score for the local economy when Amazon announced it would open a huge, regional fulfillment center on South Kolb just north of I-10.
Amazon says it will employ about fifteen hundred workers and pay them at least fifteen dollars an hour.
But now that large warehouse will have a smaller partner on the west edge of downtown Tucson, at I-10 and Silverlake.
In the competition for new employers, projects like Amazon’s start out with some secrecy. Before Amazon was revealed as the operator, this one was known as Project Cactus. City of Tucson building permits peg its cost at over 4.3 Million dollars.
Sun Corridor, which works to bring new business to the area says the building is designed for what they call the last mile. Individual drivers will come, pick up packages and take it from the center to your door.
From the new center, a delivery van can be on I-10 in just a minute or two---and I-19 is very close.
It's another step in Tucson's growth as a logistics center---a prime place for companies to organize shipments and deliver goods across a region.
The giant Home Goods warehouse is a good example of another company that found Tucson a good place to bring business and jobs.
It's not clear how many jobs the new, smaller Amazon center will bring but Amazon says many will be for independent delivery drivers making 18 to 25 dollars per hour.
