Tesla has secured a long-term lease on a massive new building in Pontoon Beach, Illinois, near St. Louis.
It’s unclear what the building will be used for, but it’s likely to be a giant parts distribution center.
Tesla loves tall buildings and has built many, from the Gigafactory Nevada to the Gigafactory Texas, which are among the tallest buildings in the world.
According to a local report from Mail-TribuneTesla takes over a large warehouse covering more than half a million square feet:
The company has signed a lease for nearly 667,000 square feet of space at Gateway TradePort, a planned industrial park in Pontoon Beach, Ill., according to a market report by commercial real estate firm CBRE.
The size of the building would indicate that it is too big to be just another Tesla service center, especially since Tesla is currently building a large new service center in St. Louis.
The report could not determine what Tesla planned to do there:
Neither the company nor the developer, Kansas City’s NorthPoint Development, immediately responded to a request for comment. Tesla’s website also did not list available jobs in southern Illinois.
While there are no job openings for the location at press time, Tesla has since added several inventory-related job openings for Pontoon Beach:
In the job postings, Tesla refers to a “highly dynamic parts distribution center”:
Tesla is seeking a motivated and experienced Supervisor for our fast-paced Parts Distribution Center in Saint Louis, MO. This position will provide oversight of day-to-day operations including receiving, storage, shipping and all transactions related to said activities. The Parts and Service Warehouse Supervisor will also ensure the efficient and accurate storage and organization of parts inventory. This individual will work closely with the parts and service buyers, logistics and quality teams, as well as internal and external customers worldwide. This role will report directly to the Associate Manager, Parts and Service Warehouse. We currently have day shift and shift openings, but flexibility is required.
It looks like the new location will be a giant new parts distribution center for Tesla’s service division.
Recently, we reported on Tesla is working hard to “revolutionize” its vehicle service and reducing wait times for repairs in North America.
Parts inventory is actually a critical part of achieving this, as service centers often have to wait for parts before making repairs.
If Tesla can have a large parts distribution center right in the middle of the country, like near St. Louis, it could help get parts to service centers all over North America much faster.
The massive new building that Tesla secured is still under construction, and therefore it’s unclear when Tesla will be able to complete the new parts distribution center, but it should be relatively quick if it’s already hiring for it.
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