Redmond will be the new home of a delivery hub for Amazon, the company announced Tuesday.

The online retailer plans to open a 83,559 square foot facility on 13.8 acres of industrial land on East Antler Avenue and NE Ninth Street in Redmond.

The hub will help ensure packages reach customers’ doors quickly and efficiently, the company said. In the Amazon delivery arena, packages are sent from fulfillment centers to delivery stations before sending out to customers.

Amazon is expected to hire 170 people to staff the new Redmond facility and be fully operational next spring.

“From the start of this project, Redmond was the most compelling location due to its strategic position as the hub of Central Oregon,” said Steve Curley, Redmond Economic Development Inc. director. “This initiative will bring several hundred jobs to the area, along with the advantages of a partnership with Amazon, which is investing in the community. 

“The entire Central Oregon region will benefit from the services that Amazon provides,” Curley said.

In order to put the land sale together, irrigation canals had to be moved and gas lines rerouted to fit Amazon’s unique operational needs.

Brian Fratzke, Fratzke Commercial Real Estate Advisors Inc. principal broker, represented the property owners in the transaction. He said there were a lot of players involved in the sale: the city of Redmond, Deschutes County, the federal government and  Central Oregon Irrigation District.

About 1,300 feet of federally regulated canal irrigation lines had to be relocated, seven tax lot lines had to be adjusted and setbacks, encumbrances and utility lines relocated to make the property workable for Amazon, said Tom Tapia, Fratzke Commercial Real Estate Advisor pursuit team leader in a prepared statement.

The Redmond site is part of Amazon’s larger $4 billion national initiative to expand its rural delivery network. When complete, the expanded network will span more than 13,000 ZIP codes and enable Amazon to deliver over a billion more packages each year in areas covering the size of Alaska, California, and Texas combined.

“We are thrilled Amazon has selected Redmond and the Redmond Industrial Park for the site of its new delivery center,” said Eric Sande, Redmond Chamber of Commerce executive director. “This is a great opportunity for both Amazon and the community to create a lasting and successful partnership.”

Reporter: 541-633-2117, suzanne.roig@bendbulletin.com