Amazon to replace Louisiana Mall with massive 90' high fulfillment center
Seefried Industrial Properties has applied for a permit to build a 3.8 million square foot Amazon fulfillment center on the site of Cortana Mall in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The buildings that formerly made up the Cortana Mall in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, began coming down Monday as workers clear space for a new massive Amazon distribution center.
The company applied for the permit Monday afternoon. Seefried has said it tentatively plans to begin construction in the first week of June. The building should be substantially completed by September 2022.
Demolition continues on Cortana Mall. Seefried Industrial Properties has applied for a permit to build a 3.8 million square foot Amazon fulfillment center on the site of Cortana Mall. Seefried has said it tentatively plans to begin construction in the first week of June. The building should be substantially completed by September 2022.
Jonathan Stites, a senior vice president with Seefried, has said the Cortana facility will be the largest prototype fulfillment center for Amazon and will feature the latest technology the company has to offer. Atlanta-based The Conlan Co. will serve as general contractor.
The building will be nearly 90 feet tall, with the second through fifth floors taken up by storage, robotics and conveyors, which will orderpick products and transport them down to the first floor for packaging and distribution. None of the items stored in the Cortana center will be sent directly to customers; instead the facility acts as the first cog in the distribution system Amazon has established.
Crews were seen demolishing the abandoned mall late Monday morning. Workers moved in little less than two weeks after the East Baton Rouge Metro Council approved the rezoning of the property, giving Amazon's contractor the go-ahead.
“Customer’s patterns and shopping habits are changing, and we have to evolve with the times.”
“It’s a huge grab for us to attract a project such as this, but I'm almost more excited for the people, the opportunities it's going to attract,” said Dunn.
Recently obtained documents revealed Amazon is paying at least $17 million for the property, which it plans to transform into a 3 million-square-foot, five-level fulfillment center. The warehouse could create up to 1,000 jobs.
“We want to make sure the whole process is inclusive and diverse. From the construction process, to local small businesses participating and all the way to employment opportunities. I want to make sure that those who get these jobs are from Baton Rouge."
The demolition of Cortana started in late March and is expected to go through August-September. Plans are to transform the entire site, not only replacing the shopping center with a huge warehouse, but ripping up the parking lot and replacing much of it with landscaping.
