Amazon kept its identity hidden for as long as it could. But the behemoth has finally emerged from the shadows, purchasing the 85-acre parcel near the Eugene Airport that it needs for its controversial parcel-delivery warehouse.
Amazon.com Inc. LLC on Dec. 26 bought the parcel off Highway 99 for $2 million, according to the deed, which was reviewed by Eugene Weekly.
The sellers were four investors based in Texas whose families had owned the property for years, according to county land records.
Amazon meticulously worked to keep its name out of all public planning documents for more than a year. The company also swore its consultants and others to secrecy.
But there was never much doubt that the 320,000-square-foot warehouse planned for the site was intended for the Seattle-based e-merchant.
The Dec. 26 sale deed is the first confirmation the project is for Amazon.
More than a year ago, consultants working for an unnamed entity laid the groundwork for the project. Eugene Weekly broke the story of the proposed development in January 2025, speculating it could be for Amazon.
Public opposition has grown, warning against the traffic jams and air pollution the facility might create, as well as the wetlands filling that an Amazon consultant says is needed. Plus, many area residents just don’t like the prospect of Eugene getting a giant facility from a company headed by pro-Trump and anti-labor Jeff Bezos.
Opponents have filed hundreds of emails and public comments. But local elected officials, including members of the Eugene City Council, say they are powerless to stop it.
The warehouse is a permitted use in the industrial zone that the council created to foster economic growth with high-tech manufacturing and high-skill, high-pay jobs.
Amazon’s facility will receive truckloads of packages and deliver them to local residents and businesses, using a fleet of hundreds of vans, planning records show. Critics say most of the jobs will likely be modest-paying low-skill van-driving gigs.
Bricks $ Mortar is a column anchored by Christian Wihtol, who worked as an editor and writer at The Register-Guard in Eugene 1990-2018, much of the time focused on real estate, economic development and business. Reach him at Christian@EugeneWeekly.com.
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
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Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
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Eugene Weekly
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