Amazon opening huge distribution center in Tri-Cities. Here’s how many jobs it will bring

Amazon plans to hire more than 1,500 full-time employees when it opens two new Pasco warehouses next year.

The massive international company is expanding in the Tri-Cities with the construction of two distribution centers just west of Highway 12, a company spokeswoman said Thursday in an email to the Tri-City Herald.

Each warehouse will be more than 1 million square feet.

Together, the infrastructure, both warehouses and support buildings will cost more than $200 million, according to building permits — some of which were just issued Thursday.

The warehouses will be among the largest in North America. Amazon currently operates a call center in Kennewick.

“We are proud of the partnership that we have built with Amazon to locate these new operations facilities in our community,” said Pasco Mayor Saul Martinez in a news release. “This will have a long-term impact on Pasco, and it’s an opportunity to open new career paths in industries like logistics, retail, and technology with a company that is known for innovating.”

All the new jobs at the warehouses that have been labeled “Project Oyster” and “Project Pearl” in building permits and documents filed with the state will be full time.

The company said that it hasn’t started hiring yet but once fully staffed, Amazon will be among the Top 10 employers in the Tri-Cities, according to information from TRIDEC.

Only Lamb Weston and Pasco School District would have more employees than Amazon in Franklin County.

2 warehouses

The two warehouses across the road from each other will distribute different types of products.

The “Eastside” facility - or Project Oyster — that will be at 1361 S. Road 40 East will sit on 162 acres and will handle smaller goods such as household items, books, toys and technology.

The “Westside” facility across the street — or Project Pearl at 1202 S. Road 40 East will sit on 104 acres.

It will hold larger items such as furniture, outdoor equipment, as well as large packages of paper goods and pet supplies.

The facilities will be just north of the Lakeview Mobile Home Park and Sacajawea State Park, near the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers in Franklin County.

The area near railroad and trucking operations at the Big Pasco Industrial Center is just west of Highway 12.

The land was purchased from two different owners for a combined $11 million.

“The city of Pasco welcomes these new Amazon facilities to our diverse and growing business community,” said Pasco City Manager Dave Zabell.

“Amazon brings great jobs with attractive pay and benefit packages as well as pathways to longer-term careers. These facilities will provide opportunity and help working families across our region.”

Ryan Companies based in Bellevue is the contractor and builder of the project on South Road 40 East.

The company has been the developer of multiple large-scale projects across the U.S., including a Target food distribution center in Texas, Shutterfly in Minnesota and a 2.3 million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center in Tuscon, Ariz., in 2019.

Massive warehouses

A ranking of the largest warehouses in North American by Damotech, a major provider of warehouse rack safety systems, shows the Pasco project would come in at No. 8 on the list.

Boeing’s Everett Field Factory is No. 2 at 4.3 million square feet.

And Richland’s Preferred Freezer Services building — the world’s largest refrigerated warehouse and automated freezer — is listed at No. 10. It has 500,000 square feet.

For perspective, each Pasco warehouse will be larger than CenturyLink Field where the Seattle Seahawks play. That stadium is 900,000 square feet.

This story was originally published September 16, 2021 at 1:52 PM.