Denver may have lost out on a well-publicized national contest to become home to a second headquarters for Amazon, but the most valuable company in the world clearly likes what it sees in the Denver market.
The Seattle-based business giant plans to expand its footprint in downtown Denver.
The company expects to hire 400 high tech jobs, which range from software and hardware engineering, cloud computing, and advertising.
The new hires will be work in Amazon’s new 98,000 square foot office located at Invesco’s 1515 Wynkoop LEED Platinum building in Denver’s LoDo neighborhood.
When coupled with current Amazon jobs at the company’s Boulder campus, the move will more than double Amazon’s current tech workforce in the Denver area.
“I’m so excited that Amazon is adding 400 more jobs in Colorado. We have a terrific workforce that continues to attract the ideas and businesses that thrive in a knowledge-based economy and we are a great place to do business,” Governor Jared Polis(D-Colorado) said, according to a recent press report. “Amazon’s current Colorado presence spans from distribution centers to robotics, corporate and operations. It’s wonderful to see their continued investment in our community.”
“We’re excited to continue to grow and invest in the Denver area,” Dave Wood, Site Lead for Amazon’s Denver Tech Hub, told a local Denver news station. “Our new office will offer our teams the convenience of a downtown location with an array of outdoor adventures just up the road.”
Amazon has invested over $1.5 billion in Colorado over the last three years, including infrastructure, compensation and Whole Foods Market, according to a recent Business Wire release. The company estimates that these direct investments in the state contributed more than $1 billion to Colorado’s economy from 2016-18. The moves also generated over 8,000 jobs.
Amazon also opened its first Denver-area bookstore in March.
Amazon Books, located at 2787 E. 2nd Ave. in Cherry Creek, is the company’s 19th bookstore across the country. The 4,000-square-foot store will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
In addition to its downtown offices, Amazon recently expanded its Colorado footprint with the opening of fulfillment warehouses in Aurora and Thornton.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for Denver,” said Jeff Mason, Benchmark Commercial’s co-founder. “This is great news for business growth, and an important sign that Denver is attracting the best of the best. It’s great to see an international company invest in our city and continue to expand their business, along with growth and opportunity for Denver.”
