Amazon Moves Into Apartment Buildings

The online retailer has inked deals with large apartment landlords to install Amazon Hub lockers onsite.

October 19, 2017

NEW YORK CITY – Amazon will soon run the package rooms in some of the largest U.S. apartment complexes, the Wall Street Journal reports. The online retailer joined with several of the biggest U.S. apartment operators representing more than 850,000 units—including AvalonBay Communities, Bozzuto Group, Equity Residential and Greystar—to put in Amazon lockers on the premises.

Landlords often struggle with managing the onslaught of packages that come in daily. Staff in large buildings spending several hours a day sorting mail and finding storage space for delivered boxes. Many landlords say it’s become the most vexing problem they face. For example, the average AvalonBay apartment community receives around 1,000 packages a month, up from 650 just a year ago.

Enter Amazon, which proposes to run a fully automated system that would give residents 24/7 access to packages not just from Amazon, but other carriers as well. Hub by Amazon would only be available to residents of those buildings, who would receive notifications when a package arrives, plus a code to open the appropriate locker.

For apartment owners, after an initial $10,000 to $20,000 to buy the lockers, no monthly fees will be charged. Many landlords indicated they wouldn’t charge residents to use the lockers, especially because the system would free up staff to address other concerns. The only issue Amazon hasn’t addressed is how to handle oversized packages that wouldn’t fit inside lockers.

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