News Flash

Dec. 8, 2020 - Amazon, the world’s largest internet-based retailer, has closed on the long-vacant Super Kmart property on Mercury Boulevard. Plans are to build a last mile delivery center that will add jobs and speed package delivery to customers.

Amazon will begin construction soon on a new 100,000-square-foot center, which the retail goliath expects to open late next year.

“This is a really great day for the City of Hampton,” said Mayor Donnie Tuck. “To have this long-vacant eyesore being turned into an Amazon center, with new jobs, is beyond fantastic.”

The new center will employ approximately 200 full-time workers earning a minimum starting wage of $15 per hour. Benefits include full medical, vision, and dental insurance as well as a 401(k) with a 50 percent match from day one. Amazon will also hire some 200 part-time workers earning $15 per hour, and about 400 contract drivers.

Chuck Rigney, the city’s Economic Development director, said his team has been working with Amazon’s representatives for the past year on the project. 

“Amazon strongly believed in the site and worked very closely with our Hampton team on an incredible site plan that is going to transform the landscape, literally, along this stretch of Mercury Boulevard,” Rigney said.  

Amazon’s announcement also included a new center in the Sewells Point area of Norfolk.

The rumors began when the Planning Commission and City Council were shown a presentation as part of a request to rezone the property. That plan showed an extensive landscaping design that will include trees and shrubbery along the frontage on Mercury Boulevard, with numerous interior islands dotted with trees and shrubs. The rezoning didn’t list who planned to buy the property for use as a warehouse. 

“We are excited to continue to invest in the Hampton Roads area with two new delivery stations that will provide efficient delivery for customers and create hundreds of job opportunities,” said Courtney Johnson Norman, Amazon spokesperson. “This new delivery station represents Amazon’s unwavering commitment to safety, technological innovations and skilled teams who are obsessed with delivering for our customers.”