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Amazon has paid $35 million for the Central Steel & Wire plant on the Southwest Side, completing a deal for one of the largest sites in the e-commerce company’s ever-growing distribution network in the Chicago area.
Seattle-based Amazon in June completed the purchase of the more than 70-acre site at 3000 W. 51st St., according to Cook County property records.
In an email, Amazon spokeswoman Caitlin Polochak confirmed the purchase and said a package delivery station is planned for the site. She said construction is expected to begin in 2023. She did not say how large the facility would be or how many people are expected to work there.
The Tribune in March reported Amazon’s plans to buy the site in the Gage Park neighborhood for about $45 million. It’s not clear why the price came in lower than expected.
The seller was Ryerson Holdings Corp., which acquired Central Steel in 2018. Central Steel opened the facility 80 years ago.
The steel company is expected to lease back the facility for a while, but it’s unclear what will happen to the operation when Amazon demolishes the plant and replaces it with a warehouse.
Ryerson representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
The sprawling site is one of the largest controlled by Amazon in the Chicago area.
Amazon already leases warehouse space a few blocks away at 3507 W. 51st St. in Gage Park.
Recent real estate deals in Chicago are a continuation of Amazon’s strategy of leasing and buying millions of square feet of warehouse properties throughout the suburbs and city, as it sells more products online — and as it promises faster deliveries.
Amazon said it has invested more than $8 billion in Illinois, where it has more than 36,000 full- and part-time workers. Amazon already has nine fulfillment and sorting centers and eight delivery stations in the state, in addition to a downtown Chicago office, stores and other facilities.
In another recent land deal in the city, Amazon paid about $37.6 million for about 26 acres of parcels in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood, according to property records.
non metallic sheathed cable Amazon in June said it plans a 140,000-square-foot delivery station on the site. It is expected to employ about 500 when it opens late next year.