Large merchandise distribution center planned for Prince George's County

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (FOX 5 DC) -- Could Amazon be expanding its footprint even further in the DMV?

The e-commerce giant may be eyeing Prince George's County and it appears a planned development is rolling out the red carpet -- the Westphalia Town Center just east of Suitland Parkway and Pennsylvania Avenue in Upper Marlboro -- but neighbors have some major concerns.

There has been no official confirmation that a giant warehouse planned just steps from townhomes in the area is going to be connected to Amazon. For now, it is all just a rumor

According to county documents, the warehouse will be used to fulfill e-commerce orders.

Meanwhile, neighbors thought they were getting shops and restaurants.

"I think that that would be a bad move for our area," one person told FOX 5 Tuesday. "There's only a small number of trees separating that from the residential community."

The Prince George's County Planning Board voted to approve a change to the site plan for the Westphalia Town Center on Thursday to make room for what they're calling a merchandise supply center.

Due to non-disclosure agreements, we don't know who the tenant will be. There are unconfirmed rumors it will be Amazon, but the company, nor county officials, will comment.

The developer described the 700,000 square foot logistics building as a major employment center for an international company. They're promising it will bring 1,500 jobs and more development to what now is an empty field.

The area is close to several clusters of new homes and many neighbors strongly oppose the warehouse.

"Everyone in Westphalia and Parkside Westphalia bought in thinking that we'd have retail, restaurants, mostly like they open maybe at 10 a.m. and close at 10 p.m.The warehouse has to operate 24/7 and so instead of having just traffic just a little bit during the day, which is totally permissible, they're actually going to have potentially 24/7 traffic," said Alexander Borman.

If the Amazon rumor pans out, it is unclear if or how the warehouse would impact delivery times in DMV.