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Shopping splurge: Amazon pays record price for a Daytona property. Here’s why.

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Shopping splurge: Amazon pays record price for a Daytona property. Here’s why.

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DAYTONA BEACH — Amazon has two distribution centers in Volusia County with two more expected to open in early 2025. What the general public may not know is that it typically leases rather than owns its facilities.

That changed in a dramatic way this month when the Seattle-based e-commerce giant in a real estate transaction that closed Oct. 24 paid nearly $393.9 million to acquire its yet-to-open five-story 2.8 million-square-foot robotics fulfillment center at 2519 Bellevue Ave. in Daytona Beach.

The seller was Dallas, Texas-based developer Hillwood Communities, doing business as “Daytona 634 Development LLC,” according to a copy of the deed recording obtained by The Daytona Beach News-Journal late Friday from Volusia County Tax Roll Director Brandon Logan.

What was Volusia’s previous record sale?

It is the biggest real estate sale in Volusia County history, shattering the previous record $123 million paid by Virginia-based Capital Square 1031 for the 599-home site The Falls 55-and-older manufactured home community off Clyde Morris Boulevard in Ormond Beach in December 2020, according to Volusia County property records.

When did Amazon expand here?

Amazon opened its first distribution center in Volusia County in September 2019 when it completed its 66,000-square-foot last-mile delivery station at 2400 Mason Ave. in Daytona Beach. That property is owned by Fortress Investment Group of New York, New York.

The e-commerce’s second distribution center opened in Deltona in September 2020: The 1.4 million-square-foot Amazon “first-mile” fulfillment center at 2600 N. Normandy Blvd., along the east side of Interstate 4. That property is owned by Dallas, Texas-based Clarion Partners.

A second completed-but-not-yet-opened Amazon facility in Deltona, the 984,960-square-foot “pre-first mile” fulfillment center is located across the street at the I-4 Logistics Park at 2501 N. Normandy Blvd. That Amazon building is owned by San Antonio, Texas-based Affinius Capital, which was previously known as USAA Real Estate Company, the real estate investment arm of the USAA credit union for U.S. military personnel and their families.

The robotics fulfillment center in Daytona Beach was developed on behalf of Amazon by Hillwood which acquired the property from NASCAR for $13.7 million in December 2021.

Both the robotics fulfillment center and pre-mile fulfillment center appear to be completed or close to completed.

Amazon typically does not open new distribution facilities during its holiday shopping season, which means its two new facilities in Volusia County won’t open until early 2025.

Why does it need so many facilities?

Amazon’s goal in operating so many distribution facilities in Volusia County is to increase its ability to offer same-day and next-day deliveries of online purchases made by customers.

Volusia County is considered a good location for logistics services because of its prime location at the intersection of interstates 4 and 95 which allow deliveries to be easily made both up and down Florida’s east coast as well as to customers in Central Florida.

How many people does it employ?

Amazon created several hundred jobs when it opened its last-mile delivery station in Daytona Beach and added at least 1,500 more when it opened its first-mile fulfillment center in Deltona. The company has said it expects to create 1,000 more jobs when it opens its robotics fulfillment center in Daytona Beach, but has not said how many it expects to employ at the pre-first-mile fulfillment center in Deltona.

News reports of new Amazon pre-first-mile fulfillment centers in other parts of the country indicate that the second Deltona facility could employ another 1,000 workers.

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