Amazon’s distribution centers in Chesterfield and Dinwiddie Counties win Project of the Year

Amazon’s massive, job-producing distribution centers in Chesterfield and Dinwiddie counties have been named Project of the Year for 2012 by the Greater Richmond Association for
Commercial Real Estate (GRACRE).

The group held its annual awards event for the area’s most exceptional commercial real estate projects on Tuesday evening at The Country Club of Virginia. It recognized a total of 14 local commercial real estate projects and transactions from among 33 finalists as part of its 12th annual awards program.

“The variety of award submissions this year has been a telling sample of the depth and breadth of the commercial real estate industry in the area,” Allyson Petty, president of GRACRE, said in a statement. “The Richmond market really evolved in 2012, and GRACRE is excited to acknowledge and celebrate these projects that are changing the landscape.”

Finalists were selected from a pool of nominees, and award winners were selected from among the finalists. Taking the top award was the recently opened Amazon fulfillment centers. The million-square-foot facilities opened last October. They represented an investment of $135 million and are expected to create a total of 1,350 jobs.

The Chesterfield center covers 23 acres of a 100-acre site in the Meadowville Technology Park. It ships packages that range from auto parts and consumer electronics to office supplies. The Dinwiddie plant ships larger items.

The other winners were:
· Allianz Global Assistance (Best Office Renovation)
· Carytown Place (Best Retail Adaptive Re-use)
· Colonial Shooting Academy (Best Entertainment Adaptive Re-use)
· Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (Best Institutional Project)
· First National Apartments (Best Multi-Family Project)
· Greater Richmond Aquatics Partnership, Aquatics Center (Excellence in Collaboration)
· Parham Place III (Best New Office Building)
· Reynolds Crossing MOB II (Best New Medical Building)
· RiverFront Investment Group (Best Office Adaptive Re-use)
· Stonebridge, Phase I (Best New Retail Building)
· SunTrust Bank at WestMark Two (Best Lease Transaction)
· Uptown Alley (Best New Entertainment Building)
· West Broad Village (Best Sale/Acquisition Transaction)