Amazon expanding in Cleveland & Slavic Village
Amazon is reportedly pivoting to a new site for a distribution centre on the southeast side of Cleveland yet would remain in Slavic Village, according to two sources familiar with the project. The global giant will apparently be the anchor for a new warehouse development on a 40-acre site that could grow further if additional properties around the fringes are added to it. The site, between the east side of Interstate 77 and East 55th Street, is owned by trucking firm Morabito Enterprises Inc. It intends to sell the bulk storage facility to Atlanta-based Stonemont Financial Group to develop with two or three separate warehouse structures totalling 500,000 square feet. Nearly two years ago, Amazon had considered locating in another Slavic Village development site on the west side of I-77. That location, the Job Ready Site in the Cuyahoga Valley Industrial Center (CVIC), would have hosted a 112,000-square-foot Amazon delivery station to be called DCL6 (the sixth Delivery Center Cleveland). But Amazon favoured development of a 123,355-square-foot facility, now under construction at a former drive-in movie theatre site on Memphis Avenue in suburban Brooklyn. The 40-acre plot in the CVIC is under consideration for Cuyahoga County’s new consolidated jail facility, or for relocating a container shipping yard to open up another potential jail site near the main post office closer to downtown. Both of those options have met with opposition from Cleveland City Council, led by Ward 12 Councilwoman Rebecca Maurer. Amazon hasn’t given up on building a distribution centre on the city’s southeast side.Their latest acquisition was the 1.273-acre site of the former Mound Elementary School on Mound Avenue at East 55th. Acquisition of that vacant plot by the Morabito-Slavic Village Development partnership won approval in November from the City Planning Commission. Additional properties are being sought to give greater flexibility in placing large structures and parking areas for workers and trucks on the site. That may include acquiring more than a dozen mostly vacant residential parcels north of Mound as well as vacating Eliza Avenue plus portions of East 53rd and 54th streets. The Morabito site was re-platted by the county at the end of December as a single parcel that also removed several dead street rights of way through the site, including for a portion of East 52nd Street and the entirety of Morgana Avenue. However, even if the Morabito land transferred today, it will still take up to two years to level the site, install new sanitary and storm sewers, electrical and communications lines, access roads, parking lots and construct new buildings for Amazon and other as-yet unidentified tenants. But the demand for light-industrial and logistic/shipping facilities in Greater Cleveland exceeds supply. Much of that demand has been provided by the growth in e-commerce. In just the last few years, Amazon has leased these new “Delivery Center Cleveland” facilities to serve the Greater Cleveland market: CLE1 – 2020 Euclid Ave, Cleveland (Hub Locker) CLE2 – 21500 Emery Rd, North Randall, 855,000 SF CLE3 – 1155 Babbitt Rd, Euclid 850,000 SF CLE4 – 2550 Columbus Road NE, Canton, 1 million SF CLE5 – 8685 Independence Pkwy, Twinsburg 248,000 SF There are also these Amazon delivery stations, which is what the Slavic Village facility would reportedly be: DCL1 – 26555 Bluestone Blvd., Euclid, 127,020 SF DCL2 – 2823 Gilchrist Rd., Akron, 640,000 SF DCL3 – 12111 Debartolo Dr., North Jackson, 43,200 SF DCL4 – 24800 Miles Rd., Warrensville Hts., 145,200 SF DCL5 – 2040 S Reynolds Rd., Toledo, 150,000 SF DCL6 – 10575 Memphis Ave., Brooklyn, 123,366 SF DCL7 -10801 Madison Ave., Cleveland, 168,750 SF Global Investments have seen a sharp increase in demand for properties in the Slavic Village area mainly fuelled by investor demand. The smart investor is not looking to buy and flip properties immediately. A property purchase in Slavic Village today could look like a bargain in 2-3 years time when Amazons plans have been completed and the infrastructure is in place. Supply certainly will be highly demanded for employees and that will only increase prices. If you are interested or wish for a call and more information on the latest properties Global Investments can offer in this location then please email us today at : invest@globalinvestmentsincorporated.