information provided by the Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation
MARKHAM, Ill. (June 25, 2020) – Governor JB Pritzker announced that two new massive Amazon facilities are under construction in the Chicago Southland. Joining the massive site in Monee, are a 4 million square foot facility in Matteson, a 4 million square foot facility in Markham, and a 1.2 million square foot facility in University Park.
By 2021, Amazon will have approximately 12 million square feet of centers in the Chicago Southland. In addition, another 3 million square feet is being developed of class A industrial space, under construction now or recently finished.
Construction for the new Amazon sites has led to over $100 million in contracts with local and minority businesses in the Chicago Southland. Thousands of new jobs are anticipated, many of which will be technical jobs managing the state-of-the-art robotic facilities.
The Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation (CSEDC) will work with the Chicago Southland communities to increase local hires. “We are collaborating with Opportunity Advancement Innovation (OAI) and the host municipalities to build upon our education and workforce strategy,” said CSEDC in a June 24 email, “to maximize the ability of the Chicago Southland workforce to be trained and ready to work at these new jobs, including new demand for robotic maintenance technicians. AND these investments have now made the Chicago region’s development community believe in the value of the South Suburban Airport as a key investment that by adding air to our rail and highway logistics assets, we are creating a world-class logistics hub: the Chicago Southland Rail-Highway-Air Cluster.”
Following Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s presentation about the Amazon announcement, Senator Michael Hastings, Senator Napoleon Harris, and State Representative Debbie Meyers-Martin all told the governor that due to the investment of Amazon, it is critical for the State to invest the $162 million that is in the budget to build the intersections leading to the airport site. Governor Pritzker replied that they are working with all of the representatives and private sectors to decide the best implementation for the airport.
The Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation is located at 1904 W. 174th Street in East Hazel Crest, Illinois.
