An affiliate of Dallas-based developer Hillwood has purchased around 75 acres of land in the Ryan Business Park for a possible Amazon distribution center in Oak Creek.
Commerce 94 Project LLC purchased 75.4 acres from parts of four parcels from Ryan Business Park LLC for nearly $9.8 million, according to state real estate records. The four parcels involved cover nearly 137 acres in the business park, which is being developed by Pewaukee-based Capstone Quadrangle and Fox Point-based General Capital Group.
The possibility of the land near Ryan Road and South 13th Street becoming an Amazon distribution center first emerged this summer with developers seeking wetland permits from the Department of Natural Resources for “Project Arrow.”
The project is a four-story distribution center with a 669,000-square-foot footprint that translates to roughly 2.5 million square feet of space. The facility could lead to 1,000 jobs in Oak Creek, according to documents submitted to the state.
Those involved with the project have declined to identify the tenant for the building, but real estate sources told BizTimes in July that it is being developed for Amazon. The land sale to Hillwood would track with Amazon as the user. The company is developing other distribution centers for the ecommerce giant, including in Garner, North Carolina.
Mike Faber, founder of Capstone Quadrangle said an announcement about a “large user” for the site could be made in the near future.
In North Carolina, Amazon announced plans for its distribution center two days after Hillwood closed on the purchase of the land, according to the Raleigh News & Observer.
Faber said the Oak Creek project has made great progress since the summer with site preparation work already underway. The city has signed off on a financing agreement along with comprehensive plan and zoning changes. Wetland mitigation plans have been approved by the DNR and a preliminary agreement is in place for road upgrades with Milwaukee County and the state Department of Transportation.
Capstone still owns land on both the north and south end of the business park. Faber said around 15 acres on the south end could become the site of a spec building next year and around 19 acres on the northern end is also available for development.
