NIAGARA, N.Y. — The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency on Wednesday put its stamp of approval on an incentive package for Amazon to bring a massive, state of the art warehouse and packaging facility to a more than 200-acre site near the Niagara Falls Airport.
Amazon says if its plan comes to fruition, it will employ 1,000 full time workers at the facility when it opens possibly in 2024.
Rare opportunity
We haven't seen many things this big come Niagara County's way in recent times," IDA board of directors secretary William L. Rossm said.
Ross, who also served for 30 years as an elected official, including 12 years as chairman of the Niagara County Legislature, opined, "We probably would have to go back to the construction of the Niagara Power Project of the 1959 to 1962 era."
The five-story, 3 million square foot facility is planned for a 216-acre site on Lockport Road near Packard Road, just north of the airport.
The cost of the project has increased significantly since March, when Amazon proposed a $300 million facility.
Record inflation is part of the reason, but according to Amazon, the addition of $100 million in robotics to the facility is a primary factor in bringing to total project cost to $550 million.
The project, if built, would be among Amazon's finest according to Brad Griggs, who heads up development for Amazon in the Northeast United States.
"This type of facility, our Amazon robotics sortable, is the most advanced building in our Amazon catalogue of facilities, with the robotics and material handling equipment at this size and scale," Griggs said.
Lots of jobs for not much pay
"We would look to employ over 1,000 full-time positions, Griggs said.
However, with the exception of the 50 management jobs at the facility, which will average $60,000 annually, 95 percent of the jobs available would pay $15 per hour. That rate would be barely above minimum wage if the facility opens as hoped in 2024, when New York's minimum wage is statutorily scheduled to hit $14.20 an hour in this part of the state.
Griggs told IDA board members that employees would enjoy a benefits package including "full medical, dental, vision (insurance) a matching 401k, and parental leave for the birthing parent of up to 20 weeks."
Incentives to bring Amazon to Niagara
For the 1,000 mostly low-paying jobs, the IDA is prepared to offer Amazon an incentive package, which includes $124 million in tax breaks.
"It'll be a great project for Niagara County for the benefits that will come from it," said IDA chairman Mark Onesi, who figures the county would get $1.3 billion in benefits from employee salaries and the taxes that Amazon would be paying despite the tax breaks.
Amazon would like to start building in the fall and have the facility up and running in two years.
But Griggs cautioned the timeline could be influenced by several factors outside of the company's control.
"We've seen supply chain concerns on some of our other projects, so we have asked in the application for a bit more flexibility in that time throughout the engagement here, should we move forward," he said.
Hope for the Falls Airport?
One interesting question that came up at Wednesday's meeting was whether the project, and Amazon's continued expansion of it's fleet of aircraft, might benefit the long under-utilized Niagara Falls Airport, which features the longest runway available for landing in the state, and which will be literally next door.
But Griggs said it's too early to tell how much Amazon's facility would impact the Niagara Falls Airport, if at all.
The Town of Niagara, in which the project would be located, has yet to completely sign off on it, but its town board is expected to next week.
"So this project is still not totally a go," Onesi said. "But it's well on its way and we're hoping that it will come to fruition."