USAA Real Estate buys land to build Amazon warehouse

BUYER: RELP Tampa LLC (USAA Real Estate Co.), San Antonio
SELLER: South Shore Corporate Park LLC
PROPERTY: 355 N.E. 30th St. and 2309 and 2313 Richwood Pike Drive, Ruskin
PRICE: $14.63 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $27.92 million, May 2007

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Online retail giant Amazon is entering the Florida business market with a warehouse in South Shore.

USAA Real Estate Co., the San Antonio-based real estate investment arm of USAA, purchased 79.5 acres of pasture land north of College Avenue just east of Interstate 75 for $14.63 million.

The price equated to $184,018 per acre. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per acre for industrial land ($336,202) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

On Oct. 9, USAA Real Estate signed a 15-year lease agreement with the Amazon entity, Amazon.com.dedc LLC.

Construction of the 1.1 million-square-foot fulfillment center is expected to start soon. It is ultimately expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.

Hillsborough County is offering the project incentives for the creation of jobs paying more than $47,518 and has waived the county's portion of property taxes for the next seven years.

Once Amazon has a physical presence in the state, it will be legally required to collect sales tax from its Florida customers.