Amazon update: New Bluffs facility has opened, Omaha’s 72 & State site still inactive

OMAHA, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) — Another new area Amazon warehouse, this one in Council Bluffs, swung into action recently, albeit with a much smaller crew than originally envisioned. 

The 270,000-square-foot sorting center at South 24th Street and Veterans Memorial Highway was completed at least a half year ago and opened just prior to this past holiday season as a “supplemental fulfillment center,” said Amazon spokesman Andy DiOrio. 

He said about 70 people work at the site, filling e-commerce orders destined for customer doorsteps. The online retail giant previously said it expected that Bluffs plant to create about 500 jobs once opened.

“Uses of facilities may change based on business and customer needs,” DiOrio said in an email. 

Yet another Amazon complex that was also completed last year — this one near North 72nd and State Streets in Omaha — remains inactive. 

DiOrio offered no timetable on when operations might launch at that facility. Spanning more than 140,000 square feet, the project was one of Omaha’s biggest commercial building permits in 2021.

DiOrio was asked to update the two Amazon developments in the wake of this week’s opening of the company’s first Nebraska fulfillment center, which is larger than 1 million square feet at Highways 50 and 370 in Sarpy  County. 

That mega center opened later than its originally projected 2022 date, but earlier than the 2024 date Papillion officials said was likely due to supply chain problems. Amazon envisions about 1,000 workers at the site eventually, but it opened with about 300 workers, DiOrio said.

Last July, when Papillion officials discussed the delayed timetable for the Sarpy center, other Amazon warehouses across the nation had been experiencing delays or cancellations. The company had reported a $3.8 billion net loss in the first quarter of 2022, compared to the $8.1 billion profit a year earlier.

More recently, in the third quarter of 2022, Amazon reported a profit of nearly $2.9 billion.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.