In October 2021, Community Impact Newspaper reported that Amazon had purchased a 193-acre property located at CR 172 and McNeil Road with the intent to build a warehouse and distribution center. Plans for the facility included $250 million in real property improvements, and it was expected to bring 800-1,200 jobs to the city.
Daniel Martin, Amazon regional public relations manager, said the e-commerce giant is exploring its options related to operational capacity and confirmed that the project is on pause as part of this exploration.
"Amazon is a dynamic business, and we are constantly exploring options related to our future roadmap," Martin said. "At this time, we are pausing the entitlements process related to the site we own in Round Rock. As mentioned in our recent earnings report, demand patterns have stabilized, and this provides an opportunity to better match our capacity and demand."
Brad Wiseman, Round Rock Planning and Development Services Department director, told Community Impact Newspaper that it is possible Amazon may never move forward with the project at all.
As demand for Amazon fulfillment rose during 2020 and 2021 with the COVID-19 pandemic, the company worked to double its operations capacity. However, with stabilization of labor and capacity demands, Amazon has turned its attention to addressing cost pressures. During a May 25 earnings call, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company is deferring building activity on properties where additional capacity is not necessary as well as letting leases expire.
"We had to make decisions on when to build fulfillment centers, really a couple years in advance," Jassy said. "It's typically a long lead time, but even longer in COVID[-19]. We made a decision to build to the high side to avoid constraining consumers and sellers in any way."
This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.
