Charles County, Maryland will be the site of a new Amazon Last Mile “Delivery Station” – one of seven such facilities slated to open in Maryland. Amazon’s Charles County operation will be based in Waldorf’s St. Charles Industrial Park and open in time for the 2020 holiday season.
Amazon’s Waldorf facilities will occupy three existing industrial properties and will reactivate a 191,746-square-foot warehouse/distribution building that has been vacant since 2010. Two other parcels will be used for employee parking and storage of delivery vehicles. The three properties total almost 32 acres with over 290,000 square feet of existing industrial space.
Commissioner President Reuben B. Collins, II, Esq. said, “This is positive news for all of our residents, especially because this facility brings employment opportunities to our community at a critical time when COVID-19 has created a need for more jobs. The confidence Amazon has shown in Charles County underscores our ability to provide a top-quality workplace as well as a great place to live and play.”
The Charles County Economic Development Department has been working with Amazon since the company’s closely watched HQ2 site search took place in 2017. Charles County was one of a handful of Maryland jurisdictions to submit a proposal for that project. “We knew we were a long shot for a project the size of Amazon’s second headquarters,” said Darréll Brown, Director of Economic Development for Charles County. “But we wanted to get in front of Amazon to set the stage for future opportunities, such as this one.”
In September of 2019, County Staff from the Economic Development and Planning Departments met with representatives of Amazon, then prospective tenant of properties in Waldorf under contract by their future landlord, Kaz Brothers, L.C. of Rockville, Maryland. The purpose of the meeting was to initiate the permitting process for improvements to the properties to accommodate a warehouse/distribution facility for Amazon. While the permitting process has been moving forward since that time, Amazon had not made a public announcement about the project until now.
“Confidentiality is part of economic development. Until the client is ready to go public, we do not discuss details of projects we are working on,” said Taylor Yewell, the Economic Development Department’s Redevelopment Manager who has been the lead on the project. “Now that Amazon officially has made an announcement, we look forward to collaborating with community partners to welcome Amazon and support their operations in Charles County.”
