(December, 2008) A 501,600 square foot industrial facility built on speculation by Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services in Humboldt Industrial Park has gotten even larger. Mericle has expanded the building to more than 615,000 SF to accommodate a new 1,900-job fulfillment center for Amazon.com.

Amazon.com Inc. announced in May that it had chosen Mericle's building as the site for its newest fulfillment center and will eventually employ 1,100 people full-time. The company began operations in July.

The Seattle online retailer said the 615,600-square-foot facility will also employ 800 part-time workers during peak seasons.

Humboldt Industrial Park was developed by CAN DO, an economic development agency serving the Greater Hazleton area. Mericle has developed 12 buildings totaling 4.2 million square feet in Humboldt.

CAN DO President Kevin O’Donnell thanked Mericle for its commitment to Greater Hazleton and Humboldt, saying, "Mericle finished work on this large building just last year. We've seen in the past and we continue to see that investment into speculative buildings in our industrial parks pays off for developers. Mericle had the foresight to make the building expandable and that helped bring Amazon here."

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell touted the benefits of the Amazon project. “Not only will this project result in well over a thousand new jobs for hard-working Pennsylvanians, but those jobs will provide ancillary benefits for the entire region,” he said in a statement.

Mericle Vice President Bill Jones worked with Amazon.com and representatives from Cushman and Wakefield’s Philadelphia and Seattle offices during the site selection process. “The Amazon.com/Cushman and Wakefield team was great to work with,” said Jones. “We are thrilled to have a company of this caliber in one of our buildings.”

Jones also offered thanks to the Governor’s Action Team and Joe Lettiere of CAN DO for their important contributions to the project.