NIAGARA, N.Y. — Amazon's $550 million fulfillment center is on its way up in the Town of Niagara and according to the online retailer should be operational sometime in 2026.
Work on the 216-acre project started this spring and on Wednesday Amazon and Niagara County leaders provided their first progress report.
The developer and general contractor said that 20% of the structure's five-story shell is complete but that a lot of work is left to be done.
According to Glendowlyn Thames, who heads Economic Development for Amazon in New York and Connecticut, the 3.1 million square foot center will be one of the second largest in the state and the largest one in Western New York.
"If you're ordering something off of Amazon more than likely it's starting at a facility like this one," said Thames.
The center will be unlike any other in the region and serve as a first-mile facility, with the top three floors filled with items for ordering and the bottom two for operations.
By comparison, Amazon's Niagara fulfillment center will be 17 times larger than its Hamburg delivery station on Route which is 183,623 square feet.
"We've been doing a lot of ground, foundational work and as you can see we're kinda well past the groundbreaking," Thames said.
When finished, the facility with serve Western New York and beyond she said, and will help ensure Amazon meets its same-day and two-day delivery goals.
The goal according to lawmakers is building on the project beyond the Town of Niagara.
"The reality is this is a great thing for the county of Niagara for our region I'm very grateful for their commitment," said State Senator Ortt (R) who represents the 62nd District where the facility is located.
"We've got power, we've got an international border, we've got access to infrastructure and we've got a great workforce so this is something that we feel is going to put us on the map," said 8th District Niagara County Legislator Richard Andres.
Andres heads up the legislature's economic development committee, which faced quite a few questions from neighbors when planning started in 2022.
Niagara Town Supervisor Sylvia Virtuoso recalls those questions about traffic and noise all too well but along with Andres and Ortt said the opportunity to pass up Amazon was too great.
Virtuoso said that the county is addressing traffic concerns and will be making two temporary traffic lights permanent along Packard Road. She added that the county is also planning other road improvements nearby.
Amazon expects to need 1,000 employees which presents another challenge that the online retailer has addressed before.
"We try to employ people in the town and it's difficult and our wages are significantly higher so I do that's going to be a major challenge," said Supervisor Virtuoso.
Thames from Amazon said it will be doing employment outreach six months before the center is expected to start hiring, as they've done with other warehouse projects.