
LIVERMORE — Amazon, in a quiet yet stunning new expansion of its Bay Area operations, has leased a huge industrial building near Interstate 580 in Livermore.
The e-commerce and video streaming behemoth leased a 612,000-square-foot building at 400 Longfellow Court that is owned by an affiliate of veteran developer Orchard Partners, according to multiple sources familiar with the transaction. Orchard managing partner Tyler Higgins declined to comment.
Amazon’s deal in Livermore marks the second time in days that a major lease by the tech titan has come to light at a huge Bay Area industrial complex.
In Milpitas, in a transaction arranged through CBRE, a commercial real estate firm, Amazon leased three buildings on North McCarthy Boulevard that together total roughly 343,000 square feet.
Amazon’s Milpitas deal also was completed with little fanfare. As many as 200 could work at the Milpitas site, which would be a delivery hub and not a fulfillment center for the tech titan, according to city public documents.
The Livermore building, located near the interchange of 580 and Vasco Road, is nearly twice as large as the space that Amazon leased in Milpitas.
“Livermore is a great location for Amazon,” said Mark Triska, an executive vice president with Colliers, a commercial real estate firm. “It has great access to both the Bay Area and the East Bay. It’s an hour from San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and it’s close to the Central Valley.”
The Livermore lease was arranged through commercial real estate firms JLL and Townsend Commercial Real Estate. JLL declined to discuss the transaction. Townsend couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
“Amazon Logistics will open a new California Delivery Station, located in Livermore,” Amazon said in emailed comments after this news organization had exclusively revealed the leasing transaction. Amazon added, “The new station will power Amazon’s last-mile delivery capabilities to speed up deliveries for customers in the Bay Area.”
Consumers are expected to benefit from the new Amazon delivery center, which will become a significant job hub for Amazon.
“Delivery stations enable Amazon Logistics to supplement capacity and flexibility to Amazon’s delivery capabilities to support the growing volume of customer orders,” Amazon said. “Additionally, the station will create hundreds of part-time and full-time jobs.”
The tech titan’s deal in Livermore is also a reminder of the dramatic changes that have rattled modern retail amid the internet revolution.
The building that Amazon has rented in Livermore once was a major logistics center for Circuit City, a former kingpin of consumer electronics that imploded in 2009 due to the retail apocalypse and the collapse of the big-box store format.
In 2017, Orchard Partners bought Longfellow Logistics Center, paying $66 million, according to a property database that contains Alameda County public documents.
“Orchard added a lot of value to the building with a number of improvements,” Triska said.
In 2018, Orchard obtained a $44 million loan from MetLife Commercial Mortgage for the property, the records database shows.
“This could be a great fulfillment center for Amazon,” Triska said of the Livermore building. “It could be part of Amazon’s same-day delivery system.”