Urban Outfitters ponders putting $9M solar-power array atop its e-commerce center

This photo, taken Wednesday, shows the $105 million e-commerce fulfillment center for Urban Outfitters under construction outside Gap.

 As the new Urban Outfitters e-commerce fulfillment center near Gap takes shape, the top of that shape might change.

Urban Outfitters continues to ponder whether to put a $9 million solar-power array on the facility’s immense roof.

“We’re still very much considering the solar component....We’re still very pro solar,” said David Ziel, chief development officer.

The 4.1-megawatt system would be the second largest solar rooftop installation in North America, according to Ziel.

Taking advantage of a rooftop as big as 18 football fields would supply a third to a half of the facility’s electricity needs.

Urban Outfitters will decide this month whether to go forward with the solar installation, said Ziel on Tuesday.

Urban Outfitters raised the possibility of a rooftop solar array last summer, as its plan was being reviewed by Salisbury Township.

If the company installs the system, the savings it generates would pay for the cost of the system in 3.5 years to 9.1 years, he estimated.

After months of studying various possible locations, Urban Outfitters chose Salisbury Township last October.

The state-of-the-art facility is being developed on 52 acres at Brackbill Road and Route 30.

It will measure 1.2 million square feet, or nearly the size of Park City Center. That includes a 200,000-square-foot mezzanine.

Urban Outfitters, a Philadelphia-based global specialty retailer, broke ground on the $105 million facility last November.

Construction is on schedule and on budget — no easy feat, given the harsh winter.

To keep the project on schedule during the nasty weather, Urban Outfitters paid incentives to its site-work contractor.

The contractor, tasked with excavating the foundation and other work, got rewarded for hitting milestones in time.

The contractor had employees work overtime to make sure those targets were achieved, said Ziel.

The base building (floor, walls, roof, HVAC etc.), now 75 percent finished, is scheduled to be completed by September.

“I’m impressed with what I’ve seen so far,” said Les Houck, secretary/treasurer of the township Board of Supervisors.

Once the building is done, next will come the installation of material-handling equipment, an eight-month undertaking.

Testing and systems integration will be done in June 2015, with the facility beginning operations that summer.

“We’re right on track,” said Ziel. “We’re right where we need to be.”

Urban Outfitters’ commitment to the project has never wavered, the executive said, despite recent weakness in its quarterly profits.

In the first quarter ended April 30, net profits fell 20.4 percent. But that followed record profits in the fourth quarter and year ended Jan. 31.

“Our distribution strategy is critical to continue to grow our business,” said Ziel, by providing prompt service to the growing number of shoppers who buy merchandise online.

The facility still is expected to open with 500 workers, said Ziel. In the years ahead, that workforce could grow to as many as 1,500 during seasonal peaks.

Most of the hiring will be done in the spring, “but we’re happy to talk to people now,” he said.

Jobseekers can fill out an application at Urban Outfitters’ distribution center at 755 Brackbill Road.

That’s across the street from the construction site. Or they can visit urbn.com/career/ and click on “Job Listings.”

Source: Lancaster Online