BATON ROUGE – Amazon expects its latest development in the capital area, located at the former site of the shuttered Cortana Mall, will create more than 1,000 jobs. 

On Wednesday, officials with the state and Amazon detailed the online retail giant's $200 million investment in redeveloping the former Cortana Mall site into a new robotics fulfillment center. The company anticipates the new facility will create about 1,000 jobs employed directly by Amazon and hundreds more indirect jobs.

Gov announces Amazon investing 200m in Baton Rouge for fulfillment center @wbrz 1000 direct jobs. $15/hr starting salary pic.twitter.com/MpW1HZJ1H7

— Bess Casserleigh (@BCasserleigh) June 16, 2021

The announcement comes amid a boom in warehouse construction tied to Amazon on either side of the river. Before the new Baton Rouge warehouse facility opens, Amazon already employs more than 1,500 full and part-time workers in Louisiana.

Amazon has already invested more than $250 million in Louisiana since 2010.  There is already a warehouse in Baton Rouge off Siegen Lane and an ongoing construction project in West Baton Rouge.  There are ongoing projects in the New Orleans and Lafayette areas, too.

At Cortana, Amazon plans to transform into a 3 million-square-foot, five-level fulfillment center. The warehouse could create up to 1,000 jobs.