Why Should Delaware Care?
Amazon is already one of Middletown’s biggest employers. A planned expansion would quadruple its footprint in the region. But plans to use robots in the new facilities have also raised concerns about jobs being replaced. 

E-commerce giant Amazon has plans to build two robotic-centric facilities in Middletown that together could quadruple the company’s footprint in fast-growing, southern New Castle County.

The company recently bought two adjacent tracts of farmland along the western edge of Middletown for $207 million, according to New Castle County property records. Local farmer and developer Richard Money previously owned the land.

“It’s one of the highest per acre industrial land sales that we’ve seen,” said Rob Stenta, a Wilmington-based commercial real estate broker for Cushman & Wakefield. 

An Amazon spokesperson confirmed that the company purchased the land and said it would become a site for “operations facilities.” 

While the spokesperson declined to give further details, a land-use attorney for the project, Richard Forsten, told the Middletown Town Council last year that two new buildings – each with more than twice the square footage as the current Amazon distribution center in town – would be “designed for robotics.”

The minutes from that meeting last year also state that one facility will bring about 1,000 jobs to the area, and the other will bring 500. 

The company’s expansion adds to years of explosive growth in Middletown, which has been led by Mayor Kenneth Branner for nearly four decades. During his tenure, the town transformed from a small farming village to a suburban center that now sits as the fourth largest municipality in the state. 

In recent years, developers have also sought to make the town and its surrounding area an anchor of Delaware’s e-commerce industry. But in response, some residents and elected officials have questioned whether the economic benefits outweigh concerns about traffic and land use.

Those questioned have continued with Amazon’s latest plans.  

“You won’t find many people in lower New Castle County that are happy with all of the growth and all of the traffic issues,” Middletown-area land-use activist Dale Swain said when asked about Amazon’s expansion. 

Branner declined requests for comment for this story. 

In his presentation to the Middletown council last year, Forsten also said the operations of the proposed facilities would be similar to those at an Amazon fulfillment center at the former General Motors plant along Boxwood Road.

There, robots across four upper floors collect items to be boxed up for shipments. Employees on the ground floor receive the items and process the shipments.

That would be a change from the current legacy operations in Middletown, which is more heavily reliant on human manpower and employs several thousand people.

It also comes amid Amazon’s reported shift to replace up to a half million workers with robotics over the next decade.

Sentiments of community members interviewed by Spotlight Delaware toward Amazon were mixed. 

Many said they were surprised at how quickly Amazon is expanding in Middletown. Some also expressed concern about robots taking people’s jobs and about increased truck traffic. Some also said they were happy about the investment in the town. 

Former Amazon employee and Middletown resident Patrick Liberatore said he doesn’t understand why the company is building two more facilities in town. 

“I don’t think you need three,” he said. 

It is not immediately clear if Amazon’s existing Middletown distribution center will remain in operation after the additional two facilities are built. When asked about it, Amazon spokesman Steve Kelly said that “changes to operations are geared towards better serving customers and making improvements for employees.”

Notably, Amazon is buying the land and building the newest facilities though. In the past, it has leased completed facilities, including its existing Middletown site, which could suggest that it may leave that site. Its lease for the Merrimac Drive center expired in 2024, but holds four-year extension options.

Liberatore worked at both the Middletown fulfillment center and the robot-centric facility on Boxwood Road, near Wilmington. He said there were more technical issues at the Wilmington location because of robots. But, he added, it was “super cool” to watch them work. 

Jennifer Steele, another former Amazon employee and Middletown resident, said she is concerned the robots at the new facilities will mean there are fewer jobs for people. 

“Give more people opportunities if you’re going to build more,” Steele said. 

Amazon says its robotic fulfilment center in Wilmington employs a thousand people. 

State Sen. Stephanie Hansen (D-Middletown) said she had heard Amazon would expand in the town but was surprised at how much. While she is glad to see more jobs in the area, she is “curious” about how additional truck traffic could affect the roads, she said. 

Swain said he understands there are financial benefits for the town, but said he and others are worried about the effects the growth will have on the local infrastructure. 

Other industrial projects in the Middletown area have faced similar criticism.