Look Out, Industrial Landlords: Amazon Is Once Again Taking Down Big Blocks At A Rapid Clip

Amazon has started leasing warehouse space again with gusto, inking six deals of more than 1M SF so far in 2024, as many leases of that size as the company signed in all of 2023, CoStar reports.

In the first quarter, Amazon leased roughly 6.5M SF, well ahead of the 2M SF the company put on the market for direct or sublease in Q1 and the most of any quarter since it took more than 8M SF in Q1 2022, according to CoStar data.

Amazon's recent leasing activity seems to point to a turnaround for the online retail giant's industrial absorption, which it paused after a flurry of leasing in 2020 and 2021 in response to a pandemic-era spike in e-commerce demand.

“[Amazon was] taking down so much space because it was fueled by the pandemic,” Colliers National Director for Industrial Services Stephanie Rodriguez told Bisnow in December. “Now business has stabilized and they're evaluating and still adding space where it makes the most sense.”

One such deal in Q1 was in Glendale, Arizona, where Amazon will take 1.2M SF at The Cubes at Glendale industrial park, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. The e-commerce giant is taking the space for 10 years.

In 2023, Amazon also opened a 1.2M SF storage and distribution center in Mesa, Arizona, the largest of its kind in the U.S., the PBJ reported.

Amazon is still closing some of its smaller facilities, according to CoStar, with more than 100 of them up for sublease or direct lease since 2022. The company is listing some of its larger facilities for sublease as well.

Amazon reported worldwide revenue of $143.3B last quarter, representing a 13% increase year-over-year. Worldwide operating income in Q1 was $15.3B, which was the company's highest quarterly income ever.