How big is the Sioux Falls Amazon fulfillment center? South Dakota's population can fit inside

Symmone Gauer, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
·4 min read

The Amazon fulfillment center in the northwest corner of Sioux Falls is the next largest facility set to open in the state, bringing hundreds of jobs to the area. Anyone who’s driven by and seen the massive building at Foundation Park has seen its extensive parking lots and the white and blue walls that tower over the horizon. But just how big is it?

Earlier this year, city officials heard Amazon was targeting a 2024 opening, a two-year delay from the original plan. However, in September it was announced the opening is back on track and the facility has opened on a smaller scale with the plans to be fully operational by February 2023.

The five-story building averages about 600,000 square feet per floor, totaling about 3 million square feet, according to Mike Gray with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

More:Take a look inside the Sioux Falls Amazon Fulfillment Center that plans to add 1,500 jobs

The CenturyLink Tower in downtown Sioux Falls may be the tallest building in the state at 174 feet, according to Business Insider, but the Amazon building has everyone beat in terms of square footage. CenturyLink Tower, for example, is only 300,000 square feet, Gray said.

Forbes reported in 2020 that the Smithfield complex in Sioux Falls is 2 million square feet, which would make it the second largest building in the state.

A rectangular light illuminates a pocket in a pod to let pickers know which item to grab next inside the new Amazon Fulfillment Center on Thursday, October 13, 2022, in Sioux Falls.
A rectangular light illuminates a pocket in a pod to let pickers know which item to grab next inside the new Amazon Fulfillment Center on Thursday, October 13, 2022, in Sioux Falls.

But what exactly does Amazon's square footage mean?

The Empire Mall could fit in Amazon twice, and there would still be plenty of room. Gray said the mall totals 1.125 million square feet–for now. A 40,000 square-foot addition will be added to Dillard’s department store, which should open in the fall of 2023.

The former Gateway building in North Sioux City, South Dakota, is about 750,000 square feet, and Furniture Mart doubled the size of its headquarters in Sioux Falls this year, now siting at about 650,000 square feet as one of the largest buildings in the city.

Workers move pods of goods inside the new Amazon Fulfillment Center on Thursday, October 13, 2022, in Sioux Falls.
Workers move pods of goods inside the new Amazon Fulfillment Center on Thursday, October 13, 2022, in Sioux Falls.

To put into perspective, if every person in South Dakota (about 880,000 people) stood inside a 3 square-foot box (about 21 inches by 21 inches) inside the Amazon facility, there would still be nearly an entire floor open, said the city's senior planner Jason Bieber.

The average sortable Amazon fulfillment center is 800,000 square feet in size. According to their website, these buildings are for packaging and shipping smaller items like books, toys and houseware.

More:Sioux Falls' Amazon facility to open in few weeks despite reports of possible two-year delay

A non-sortable fulfillment center typically ranges in size from 600,000 to 1 million square feet. Those centers are for bulk and larger items, like patio furniture and outdoor equipment, according to Amazon.

Jake Duffy moves empty pods outside the transfer area to be filled inside the new Amazon Fulfillment Center on Thursday, October 13, 2022, in Sioux Falls.
Jake Duffy moves empty pods outside the transfer area to be filled inside the new Amazon Fulfillment Center on Thursday, October 13, 2022, in Sioux Falls.

This means the Sioux Falls facility is 3.75 times the average size of an Amazon center, and it's not that much smaller than the world's largest Amazon building, which is a 3.6 million square-foot distribution center in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, according to Damotech, a major manufacturing company based in Quebec.

According to Amazon, a typical fulfillment centers could fit 28 football fields. A football field is about 58,000 square feet, including end zones.

The Sioux Falls center can hold 52 fields.

Cody Rivas and Marianela Lorts move pods of goods inside the new Amazon Fulfillment Center on Thursday, October 13, 2022, in Sioux Falls.
Cody Rivas and Marianela Lorts move pods of goods inside the new Amazon Fulfillment Center on Thursday, October 13, 2022, in Sioux Falls.

Not only that, but the facility is also nearly double the size of the 1.75 million square-foot U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The stadium also has a capacity of 73,000 people, according to the stadium's website.

The AT&T Cowboys Stadium in Texas is the NFL’s largest indoor venue, according to Ball Park, a website that tracks statistics on football teams and stadiums, and it also totals 3 million square feet, just like the Amazon building.

The fulfillment center is also triple the square footage of Target Field in Minneapolis, which is about 1 million square feet, according to Ballpark Authority.

So what else is the Amazon center larger than?

Ford Motor Company’s truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan, totals 2.6 million square feet, according to their website.

Both the John Deere Parts Distribution Center in Illinois and Nike’s Distribution Center in Memphis, Tennessee, are about 2.8 million square feet, according to Damotech.

Shineka Robinson checks one of the pod-moving robots to ensure it moves correctly inside the new Amazon Fulfillment Center on Thursday, October 13, 2022, in Sioux Falls.
Shineka Robinson checks one of the pod-moving robots to ensure it moves correctly inside the new Amazon Fulfillment Center on Thursday, October 13, 2022, in Sioux Falls.

Here are some other buildings in South Dakota and how they measure up, according to Gray:

  • Rushmore Mall, Rapid City – 830,000 square feet

  • Nordica Warehouse at Foundation Park – 505,000 square feet

  • Lineage Logistics at Foundation Park – 450,000 square feet

  • Avera on Louise Avenue – 260,000 square feet

  • Bancorp Building at Cherapa Place – 185,000 square feet

  • Steel District Office Tower – 175,000 square feet

  • South Dakota State Capitol, Pierre – 114,000 square feet

  • Corn Palace, Mitchell – 39,200 square feet

The Sioux Falls Amazon fulfillment center has been in the works since 2020, when Amazon bought a parcel of land in Foundation Park for $7 million. When fully operational, the facility is anticipated to create at least 1,000 full-time jobs.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Is the Sioux Falls Amazon building the largest in South Dakota?