Colorado Springs is one of Amazon’s happy places. The online shopping company opened a second delivery station in the city on Wednesday, according to a news release.

It is one of several delivery stations opened in Colorado this year, following those in Grand Junction, Sterling and Gypsum. Other facilities throughout the state will open later this year as part of Amazon’s continuing investment in Colorado.

Located at 4607 Forge Road, the newest delivery station in Colorado Springs means the company can better and more efficiently serve the north side of the city. Where the southeast Colorado Springs delivery station is around 25 miles from the Northgate area, the new location at Forge Road is roughly 10 miles.

“While DCS3 sits on the southern part of the region, we wanted to make sure that we could spread capacity across multiple sites,” said Sam Bailey, Amazon’s senior manager of economic development in Colorado. “(Our southern location) was our initial investment in the Colorado Springs region. … And as we built that network, we identified the need to expand, especially with a growing Pikes Peak region.”

Amazon purchased the building in 2021 for $9.1 million, according to previous coverage by The Gazette. It is the fifth Amazon building in the city. In 2023, the retail giant opened a facility at 715 S. Academy Blvd. designed to handle large and heavy packages. It owns three buildings at the Peak Innovation Center, located near the Colorado Springs Airport.

A delivery station powers the last mile of Amazon’s shipping infrastructure, speeding deliveries to customers, according to an Amazon news release announcing the opening. Typically, a package is shipped to a delivery station from a fulfillment or sorting center, loaded onto the delivery van, and sent to customers.

“(The new site has) the ability to serve the growing population to the north and Colorado Springs,” Bailey said. “North of the Springs, this site will ultimately serve a 45- to 60-minute drive time.”

The existing delivery station in southeast Colorado Springs employs about 140 full-time workers, said Bailey. The new station, once it is up and running, may support roughly as many jobs, but everything depends on demand and the company’s needs.

Initially, Amazon will seek to hire about 30 at the Forge Road location. Jobs will be posted at hiring.amazon.com when they are available. Salaries for warehouse workers are about $17 per hour on average, according to reports shared to Indeed, an online jobs portal. Companywide, Amazon announced Wednesday its average wage increased to $23 per hour.

Statewide, the company employs tens of thousands.