SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — Construction in the West Plains is fueling speculation about a possible new Amazon facility.
None of the permit applications obtained by KREM named Amazon, but they refer to the site at 6125 South Hayford Road as 'Project Gray,' which is similar to how Amazon has handled permit applications in Spokane County in the past.
The site is adjacent to the current Amazon Fulfillment Center in the West Plains. In a press release sent out by Amazon when the company expanded their air operations to the Spokane International Airport, a reference was made to plans to open a 'new sorting center and delivery station' in the West Plains.
"We've announced that we're launching a delivery station and a sort center, or what we call a sortation center, just around the corner from our recently launched fulfillment center," said Chris Preston, Amazon Air Gateway Operations Director, in October.
The construction also comes as the online retail giant talked about wanting to establish all parts of the supply chain here in Spokane County.
"When we talk about that supply chain, end to end supply chain in the Spokane region right now, we've got fulfillment centers, we've got Amazon Air, we've got our sortation centers and we have our final mile delivery station," Preston said in October. "So really the investment in the Spokane region, to ensure that we're able to support our customers, it's really great to see."
The project being worked on in the West Plains currently is called 'Project Gray' in permit applications, much like the codenames 'Project Fireball' and 'Project Rose,' which turned out to be two other Amazon facilities in Spokane County.
Permit applications for the work being done in the West Plains state the warehouse and office building will be a one-story, 40-foot tall building with a little more than 278,000 square feet in space. A state Environmental Policy Act application lists the site as creating approximately 700 jobs.
If the site turns out to be another Amazon site, it could lead to faster delivery times, according to statements Amazon has made in the past.
"Ultimately, if we add a delivery station here, which are the stations that have the Amazon vans that do direct delivery, that really expedites to the point where we could have same-day shipping. For now, I would say it's just going to get faster," said Joe Wistos, General Manager of the Amazon GEG 2 site in Spokane Valley, this September.
KREM has reached out to Amazon multiple times about the construction in the West Plains, but we have not heard back.