$30M change for never-opened Amazon warehouse in Tri-Cities. What we know
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Pasco issues $30M tenant-improvement permit for Project Pearl via landlord
- Redevelopment adds docks, automation and cross-over dock model; fewer hires likely
- Amazon opened one fulfillment center, a cross-dock center and smaller distribution station
Amazon Inc.’s never-opened warehouse in east Pasco is getting a $30 million makeover.
The city of Pasco recently approved a permit to remodel the giant Amazon building known as “Project Pearl.”
Amazon provided little detail about how it will use the updated building in a statement Monday to the Tri-City Herald.
“The planned work at this facility is being done to prepare it to support our local operations network, enabling us to provide great service to customers,” it said.
The building was built four year ago at 1202 S. Road 40 E., across the street from its twin, Project Oyster. Both were constructed as Amazon fulfillment centers and dominate the landscape near Sacajawea State Park.
Oyster opened in 2024 as a receiving center, but Pearl remains unused. Both are one million square feet.
The building permit was issued to Amazon’s landlord, Ryan Companies US, of Bellevue, describes the work as a tenant improvement project.
That means the building will be redeveloped to serve a need other than the one for which it was built. It was built as a fulfillment center to process customer orders.
The overhaul will add dock doors, chain link fence enclosures, electrical, telecom and security upgrades, modify the fire protection system, multilevel indoor parking, water coolers, supporting structural modifications and various interior and exterior signs at the new dock doors.
A city spokeswoman said the plans seem to Amazon will not employ as many people as originally expected. The city noted that the project includes automation, conveyors and a cross-over dock model.
Across the street
Amazon made a seemingly similar change at Project Oyster in 2024. Like Project Pearl, Project Oyster was built to fulfill customer orders.
Before either could open, Amazon and its partners paused the fulfillment center plan and pivoted to a new logistics model.
They invested more than $10 million to repurpose Oyster’s interior into a receiving center for incoming merchandise in 2024. The company calls it an “Inbound Cross Dock” or IDX.
At the IDX, workers process truckloads of incoming merchandise arriving from vendors across the world. They sort it and assign it to trucks that carry items to fulfillment centers closer to customers.
It acts a bit like an airport for packages.
Mysterious player
Seattle-based Amazon has been an important if mysterious player in the Tri-Cities in recent years.
After building the two massive fulfillment centers, which were touted to add 1,200 jobs, it went quiet.
It eventually put one into use and built a third, smaller distribution station in north Pasco. That warehouse is the final step in a package’s travels between Amazon and a customer’s doorstep.
In the meantime, Amazon’s data arm, Amazon Web Services, is preparing to install a cluster of datacenters about 10 miles southeast of Pasco.
The company recently closed a $34 million deal to buy 500 acres at Wallula Gap Business Park from the Port of Walla Walla.
It initially made the deal behind an alias, “Advance Phase LLC” but publicly confirmed its identity when the sale went through. It plans to build 16 data centers to support its AI initiatives.
This story was originally published April 6, 2026 at 12:06 PM.