Photo | Courtesy of R.W. Holmes Commercial Real Estate
Craig Johnston, senior vice president of R.W. Holmes Commercial Real Estate
January 11, 2024
After opening delivery center, Amazon mum on plans for two additional Westborough properties
Photo | Courtesy of Google Maps
Amazon bought 600 Friberg Parkway in Westborough in November 2022.
By Emily Micucci
The opening in December of an Amazon same-day delivery center at 64 Otis St. in Westborough marked further expansion of the internet retail king operations in town, but will growth continue in the well-situated town where the Seattle-based company owns multiple properties?
In 2022, Amazon bought property at 600 and 800 Friberg Parkway for $11.6 million, including undeveloped land and a State Street Bank data center, owned by State Street Corp. in Boston. State Street operations continue at 600 Friberg and no shovels have broken ground on the 11-acre lot at 800 Friberg, and Amazon hasn’t filed any plans with the Town of Westborough to redevelop the properties.
One local commercial real estate broker, Senior Vice President Craig Johnston of Wayland’s R.W. Holmes Commercial Real Estate, said he’d be surprised if Amazon moves forward with new operations in those locations this year.
“They have endless deep pockets that they can carrot this, and let the market go through its process,” Johnston said.
Amazon purchased a third property, a flex building at 8 Centennial Dr. in Grafton, from State Street for $15.1 million, at the same time it bought the Friberg properties in November 2022. The company has yet to file plans to develop that land with the Town of Grafton.
Amazon did not return requests for comment about its MetroWest properties.
Image | Courtesy of Amazon
Amazon's new Westborough same-day delivery facility
Amazon spree
The purchases happened during a real estate acquisition spree for Amazon to bring a same-day shopping experience to key markets across the U.S. Just off I-495 and the Massachusetts Turnpike, the Friberg properties are ideal for warehousing products for fast local delivery, Johnston said.
Yet demand for online delivery, while still huge, has leveled off since the peak pandemic era thanks to more cautious spending habits among consumers. Amazon experienced an historic $2.7-billion loss in 2022, though the company rebounded in 2023, posting $21 billion in profit.
Meanwhile, Amazon is far from a remote real estate investor in Westborough. The company has a major presence at redeveloped properties on Otis Street, including a robotics manufacturing facility at 50 Otis St. in addition to the new fulfillment center at 64 Otis St. The same-day delivery center is the second in the state, after a similar center opened in Bridgewater in 2022, according to a company statement. The company said each site would employ about 200.
Photo | Courtesy of Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates
Todd Alexander, executive vice president of Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates
“We’re very happy with the Otis Street facilities. They’re state of the art and have generated a lot of tax revenue for the town,” said Todd Alexander, a Westborough resident and chairman of the Westborough Economic Development Committee.
Alexander, a commercial real estate broker and executive vice president for Worcester-based Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates, said State Street continues to occupy Amazon’s building at 600 Friberg Parkway, which is noteworthy as office vacancies climb locally and nationally due to waning demand for big offices in a post-COVID world.
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Anonymous
January 11, 2024
Any new news on the Amazon in Worcester ?
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