News of two massive Amazon facilities being built in Virginia Beach is starting to settle in with neighbors.
On Monday, Governor Glenn Youngkin joined other state and city leaders in a groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site.
The development is located near Harpers Road off Dam Neck Road, just south of Naval Air Station Oceana.
Amazon will build a state-of-the-art robotics fulfillment center and a delivery station. The two buildings will be adjacent to each other.
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Amazon to build 2 Virginia Beach facilities, creating 1,000+ jobs
It’s expected to create more than 1,000 jobs. An Amazon spokesperson says those positions are in addition to the temporary construction jobs. In a presentation to the City, Amazon states the jobs will pay an average of $17-20 an hour, depending on which facility someone works.
Laura Faustini owns Off the Top Barbershop on London Bridge. She said, “I don’t really have a good or bad feeling about it other than it’ll probably bring more people into the businesses around here.”
During last month’s meeting in which City Council voted 10 to 1 to approve the zoning for development, several neighbors voiced concerns.
“My question is: if there’s a development agreement that was supposed to be developed in conjunction with the communities, where is it? Why haven’t the communities that directly border this development - why haven’t we seen it? I mean, I’m the HOA president. I didn’t see it,” questioned Mike Myers.
Now, some are also curious about traffic and plans to address it, especially on Harpers Road.
“They’re gonna’ have to do something. That road is already bad as it is,” said Faustini. “A lot of people with large vehicles have a hard time going up and down it.”
The City agreed to pay for a new road to be built between Dam Neck Road and London Bridge Road. It would run behind the Prince George Estates and Mayberry neighborhoods.
Resident Nancy Greenlaw is looking at the bright side, an economic boost.
“I think it’s great that it’s coming because having another 1,000 jobs for our military right there at Oceana, I think that’d be good for our retired military.”
Some construction has already started. The delivery station is expected to be up and running in time for the holiday season in 2024. The fulfillment center is anticipated to launch operations in 2025.
