Amazon Services LLC recently acquired a distribution center in Ocala, Florida. Located between Interstate 75 and U.S. 27 in Marion County, the purchase was carried out by Ocala 44 RR LLC, while LXP Industrial Trust managed the purchase of the center. Red Rock Development focused on the final construction. Matt Sullivan of Jones Lang LaSalle emphasizes that this new distribution center is a major step forward for Amazon in this area of the United States. Kevin Sheilley, former president of the Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership, highlights the significant economic growth that this will bring, as employment will grow exponentially. Read on to learn more.
The new Amazon’s massive warehouse/distribution family
Amazon has paid $97.675 million for a huge warehouse/distribution facility in Ocala, Florida, situated in west of Interstate 75 and north of U.S. 27, according to a document on file with the court clerk.
The facility at 3171 NW 44th Ave. is described in real estate promotional literature as having 1.085 million square feet of warehouse/distribution space sitting on 91 acres. Straight to the east, on the other side of I-75, are Chewy, AutoZone and FedEx centers that operate as distributors, as well as an existing Amazon operation.
All you mustk now about the seller
The seller is recorded as Ocala 44 RRL LLC, whose location is in West Palm Beach. The buyer is Amazon.com Services LLC, which base is in Seattle. LXP Industrial Trust, which expresses itself as “a real estate investment trust focused on Class A warehouse and distribution real estate investments,” presented the sale in an Oct. 1 news release.
The act was recorded with the court clerk on Oct. 1. This is by far the huge real estate sale in Marion County this year. In addition, news of the sale comes just a few weeks after a tenant was signed for a likely huge distribution center just west of I-75 and north of County Road 484 in the Trailhead Logistics Park.
The building that Amazon bought
The building that Amazon got was built on spec, meaning without a tenant. It was built by Red Rock Development. A groundbreaking ceremony took place in June 2021, and according to the Property Appraiser’s Office the building was ended in 2023.
At the 2021 groundbreaking, Kevin Sheilley, who then was president/CEO of the Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership (CEP), named the Red Rock construction project as
another homerun for the company, future tenant, and the community,” according to the Star-Banner’s account, part of the USA TODAY Network.
More advances from Amazon this year
In April 2025, Amazon announced that it was investing more than $4 billion to improve its distribution capabilities in rural areas of the U.S. The company’s main goal is to improve delivery speeds for customers in small towns, so it plans to open new delivery stations around the country and expand its network of private delivery companies and individual contractors. Amazon claims that its Delivery Services Partner (DSP) program has generated as much as $50 billion in revenue and created more than 200,000 jobs and that the expansion will generate half again that many new positions. The expansion should also allow for buyers in around 13,000 zip codes to purchase 300 million different items with faster Prime delivery than before.
Products from virtually every department are covered by Prime shipping, so buyers can browse everything from these good Amazon power tool buys to the latest smartphones and smart TVs. In addition to the new Ocala warehouse and delivery stations, Amazon is aiming to expand its hub delivery program that enlists small businesses to deliver Amazon packages during their slower operating hours. The company’s stated goal is to build its rural delivery network to be able to distribute a billion packages a year over an area of over one million square miles.
