For 39 years, the Bank of America maintained a massive call center with up to 3,000 employees on Valencia Avenue in Brea.
But in July 2022, it shut the doors of the center for good. Since then, the three-story, 637,503-square-foot building has sat empty, along with the on-site parking lot plus an additional one on Surveyor Avenue.
It is vacant now, but perhaps not for long.
Amazon hopes to open a parcel delivery facility at the Valencia Avenue property. It means tearing down the three-story building to make way for the much smaller Amazon warehouse facility.
Amazon’s proposal is to construct a single-story, 181,500-square-foot facility, consisting of a 163,350-square-foot warehouse, 18,150-square-foot office space, plus two 49,000-square-foot attached canopies for additional van loading. The two parking lots would be merged into one.
The one-story facility would employ 231 employees, plus have 345 delivery service partner drivers and 97 Amazon Flex private carriers. That’s a long way from 3,000 employees.
At the May 13 Brea Planning Commission meeting, there was a public hearing on Amazon’s project, which is considered a “last-mile facility.”
As a last-mile facility, large trucks would deliver parcels for loading onto vans for delivery to our homes and offices. The facility would operate 24/7, with up to 30 line-haul trucks coming and going from the site between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., so not to impact daytime traffic.
According to Assistant City Manager Jason Killebrew, Amazon’s line-haul trucks would take Imperial Highway to Valencia, go left on Nasa and enter the property at Surveyor Lane. The plan is for the empty trucks to exit the same way they came in.
That way, the trucks are traveling only a short distance on Valencia, only between La Floresta Drive and La Cresenta Drive.
The prospect of big trucks traveling any distance on Valencia all night got La Floresta residents whose properties back up to the road quite concerned. They already have the trash trucks on Valencia heading to the landfill during the day and aren’t looking forward to more big trucks on Valencia all night.
“Amazon has met with residents of the La Floresta community several times since the project was first proposed,” said Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly, “We also work hard to be a good neighbor … and have already made changes to our plans in Brea.”
He added that as the process continues, they will work with local officials, residents and stakeholders and answer their questions about Amazon’s operations.
Twenty-four people spoke about the project during the public comment time, and they were evenly divided between those for the project and those against it.
In the end, the commissioners voted 5-0 for the project. Within days it was appealed, and will be presented at a future City Council meeting in a de novo hearing.
A de novo hearing is for projects requiring a zoning change, as this one does. It will also require the councilmembers to decide on the Amazon project without reviewing the Planning Commission’s public hearing on it.
So far, there is no date set for the hearing.
What there is a date for is the annual Health & Wellness Expo presented by Brea Fitness, which will be 9 a.m. to noon on May 31 at the Brea Community Center, on Madison Street, across from Brea Mall.
There will be free health screenings by Providence St. Jude Medical Center, fitness demonstrations, other exhibits, lots to see and learn about, raffle prizes, too.
If it is time to get in shape for summer. Learn how to at the Health & Wellness Expo.
Terri Daxon is a freelance writer and the owner of Daxon Marketing Communications. She gives her perspective on Brea issues twice a month. Contact her at daxoncomm@gmail.com.
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