NIAGARA, N.Y. — The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency on Wednesday formally approved a financial package for Amazon, to build a mega-warehouse and distribution center in the town of Niagara.
The proposal, which promises a lot of jobs, also continues to draw criticism, over the size of the incentives offered and the type of pay those jobs will command.
It's a Big One
In the not-so-distant future a bucolic plot of land, more than 200 acres in size along Lockport Road near Packard Road in the Town of Niagara, could be transformed into an Amazon Fulfillment Center, where orders are received, stored, packed, and shipped out to customers.
Sellers who use Fulfillment By Amazon also store their inventory at these facilities, which also handle returned merchandise.
It would be five stories in height, take up 3 million square feet, and cost $550 million to construct and equip according to Amazon.
It would be similar in scale and function to one recently built in the Town of Gates outside of Rochester, at the former Kodak Elmgrove site.
As 2 On Your Side has previously reported, Amazon would receive close to $124 million in tax breaks as an inducement to come to Niagara County.
"Those are there for a reason," said Niagara County IDA Board Chairman Mark Onesi. "Doing business in New York is expensive and a lot of companies won't come here without those inducements."
Onesi said the tax breaks are similar to those offered by IDAs in Monroe and Onondaga Counties to land similar projects, while noting as well that despite the tax breaks, Amazon will still pay $49 million in lieu of taxes over the next 15 years.
"And that $49 million is a whole lot better than the $24,000 a year that property pays in taxes right now," Onesi said.
However, several people expressed opposition to the incentive package at a recent public hearing, noting Amazon is one of the largest and wealthiest companies in America.
Several also remarked that the jobs are on the lowest end of the wage scale.
As 2 On Your Side previously reported, of the 1,000 jobs promised 95% of them are proposed to pay $15 per hour to start, which won't be much above what the minimum wage will be in this part of the state in 2024, when the project is envisioned to be completed.
"If they can't get enough employees, though, I guess they're going to have to raise that from $15 per hour," said Onesi. "That's just a baseline conservative number which everyone seems to be focused on. But if they have to raise it, I'm sure they will because if they don't reach a thousand employees within a certain amount of time, we can claw back any incentives that they got."
As they stand to see a lot of work for their members, several unions representing the construction trades have come out in support of the project.
However, while as part of the agreement, Amazon is supposed to hire local labor, in Monroe County it has had to go back to the IDA and request the rule be relaxed, in order to find enough hands to complete its large project amid the current labor shortage.