ASHLAND — The City of Ashland sold some of its industrial park land Tuesday that could soon host the site of a Fortune 500 company, officials have said.
Ashland City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the $448,200 sale of 22.41 acres of vacant property in the northwest corner of Wells Road and U.S. Route 250.
The purchase agreement includes exclusivity and confidentiality clauses, meaning the end user has been hidden from the public. But Ashland Mayor Matt Miller provided hints on Tuesday.
“It’s an e-commerce facility that will deal in shipping, sorting and staging packages for daily delivery,” he said.
After a brief pause, he repeated the description and added: “It’s easily recognizable by most people.”
The deal is being brokered by Ambrose Services LLC, an Indiana-based company that develops facilities for e-commerce, industrial and logistics companies across the U.S.
Ambrose has built six speculative and build-to-suit facilities across Ohio, with others promised in the Columbus and Cincinnati markets for 2025.
Which company could it be?
Despite Miller’s hinting, he and other city officials have not been made aware of Ambrose’s potential client.
The client is unnamed in the purchase agreement for the 22 acres of land. (Ashland Source reviewed a copy through a public records request.)
Ambrose has worked with the following companies, according to its website:
- Decker’s Brands (footwear designer and distributor)
- Love’s (chain of more than 630 truck stops)
- U.S. AutoForce (distributor for tires, car parts and lubricants)
- Hanzo Logistics (logistics services)
- Caterpillar (other engine equipment manufacturer)
- UPS (shipping & receiving and supply chain management company)
- Javo Beverage Manufacturing (beverages operation company)
- Amazon (e-commerce website)
Although UPS delivers packages for e-commerce businesses, the only e-commerce company on the Fortune 500 list for 2024 that Ambrose has worked with, according to its website, is Amazon.
The firm has also worked with Amazon before.
Ambrose’s website lists nine separate facilities under its past projects with the tech giant in Indiana, Kansas, Wisconsin, Missouri and Ohio.
The Ohio Amazon delivery station Ambrose brokered is located in Toledo. It opened in May 2021.
In an emailed statement, Ambrose provided scant details.
“Ambrose Property Group did submit a purchase sale agreement for a proposed light-industrial facility on the mentioned property,’ wrote an Ambrose Property Group spokesperson. “At this stage in the project, we are unable to provide further details beyond our purchase agreement.
“Ambrose’s portfolio includes projects throughout Ohio, with developments in the Cincinnati and Columbus markets.”
An Amazon spokesperson, when reached on the phone, was unable to confirm or deny if the e-commerce behemoth plans on coming to Ashland.
Amazon expanding U.S. footprint
Amazon dominates the e-commerce market. But it still ranks behind the nation’s largest retailer, Walmart.
To compete with the Arkansas-based retail giant and the low-price online upstarts Shein and Temu, Amazon has ramped up its delivery infrastructure this year.
According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, the company has spent much of the year investing in industrial properties to expand its distribution network of roughly 413 million square feet of industrial real estate in North America, as of Dec. 31, 2023.
So far, Amazon has leased, bought or announced plans for more than 16 million square feet of new warehouse space in the U.S., according to MWPVL International, a supply chain consulting firm.
MWPVL has estimated the e-commerce giant has planned for at least 170 new distribution facilities in the U.S., including 103 package delivery stations and 21 small fulfillment centers.
Amazon also recently announced it would build a 600,000-square-foot facility in Wood County, the county’s second Amazon warehouse.
Ohio currently has 52 Amazon facilities, according to the MWPVL International’s analysis of this year’s first quarter. Those facilities include all categories of Amazon’s distribution network.
The land sold for $20k per acre
The $448,200 sale represents the most expensive per-acre purchase at the industrial park’s history.
Ashland Mayor Matt Miller said the last sale amounted to $10,000 per acre. This one doubled the per acreage rate.
Miller said he’s been in contact with Ambrose for three months regarding this deal.
The company hasn’t asked for any tax abatements from the city.
Regardless of which Fortune 500 company plans on moving to Ashland, Miller said the new facility could be built as quickly as next year.