Construction has finally begun on a 1 million sqft Amazon fulfillment center at the Los Lunas village in Valencia County, New Mexico, after approximately three months since the project’s groundbreaking ceremony took place.
With Arizona-based BH DevCo as the manager and Ryan Companies as the general contractor, the project will be developed on a portion of the 2,000-acre Huning Ranch Business & Tech Park that is located on the northside of N.M 6, and towards the east lies a 730-acre Facebook Data Center campus.
Kristen Gamboa, a Los Lunas Senior Economic Developer said that the project, which is set to be opened by September 2023, was favorable because it’s more distribution/logistics centered and would not involve heavy water usage, unlike the Facebook data center that has to be monitored openly to measure the quantity of water used to keep its hardware equipment cool and maintain certain humidity levels.
Los Lunas Amazon Fulfillment Center benefits
According to Amazon spokeswoman Zoe Richmond, the recruitment process will commence a few months before the construction phase ends and over 600 full-time workers will be employed at the Amazon fulfillment center. Richmond also mentioned that it would take a few years from the time the center opens before its full employment capacity is reached.
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Charles Griego, the Los Lunas Mayor described the Amazon fulfillment center project as a transformative development, which would have an estimated US$ 300M impact on the economy. Griego was also pleased with the employment opportunities created through this investment, which offer a starting average pay of $15 per hour.
Other employment benefits include health, vision, and dental insurance; Amazon’s Choice program, covering an employee’s full college tuition fees; and up to 20 weeks of paid leave.
