Amazon Signs 123K-SF Lease at The Collection at UTC in La Jolla
The lease deal comes alongside an announcement that Amazon will create 2,500 corporate and tech jobs in Southern California.
Amazon has signed a lease deal with Seritage Growth Properties and Invesco Real Estate to occupy 123,000 square feet at The Collection at UTC in La Jolla. The lease deal comes alongside an announcement that Amazon will create 2,500 corporate and tech jobs in Southern California. The iconic ecommerce retailer will create 700 jobs at the La Jolla property.
The Collection at UTC is a 212,000-square-foot office and retail property on 13 acres in La Jolla. The property houses corporate offices for several major retailers, including Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn Kids, Pacific Catch, CB2, Blue Bottle Coffee, Ideal Image and Madison Reed. With the Amazon lease deal, which is the largest at the property to-date, The Collection at UTC is now 93% occupied.
Amazon simultaneously announced today that it plans to expand in Southern California with the creation of 2,500 corporate and tech jobs, and it has signed real estate leases to support the growth. In addition to the San Diego lease, the firm signed a 200,000-square-foot lease with J.P. Morgan Asset Management at the Water Garden to support the creation of 1,000 jobs in Santa Monica, and Amazon signed a 116,000 square feet lease at Spectrum Terrace in Irvine to support the creation of 800 jobs. This activity follows an already aggressive growth period for the company, which has created 17,000 jobs throughout California this year alone.
As Amazon absorbs office space for corporate expansion, it is scaling back its industrial growth efforts. Earlier this year, Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said that the firm would not drive industrial growth in 2022 during a fourth quarter earnings call, saying that it would taper the 30% of capital investment it’s been earmarking to expand fulfillment capacity. The company will continue building new fulfillment centers at a rapid clip to fulfill its same-day delivery promise to Prime customers, but it’s expected to pare back purchases of industrial properties and leasing activities. Amazon spent an estimated $25.4 billion on leased property and equipment and $5.8 billion on build-to-suit development of fulfillment centers in 2021.