It’s Amazon. The online retail giant is the “mystery tenant” that will bring at least 1,000 jobs to Clay.
“The biggest secret in all of Central New York is no longer a secret,” said Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon. “It’s a good day.”
Anand Mehta, regional director of Amazon operations, appeared in a video message to make the announcement with Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon at his daily briefing on the coronavirus.
“On behalf of Amazon and more than 7,000 employees across the Empire State. Thank you for welcoming us to Onondaga County,” Mehta said.
The 3.7 million square foot warehouse will be built on the grounds of the Liverpool Public Golf & Country Club off Morgan Road. The warehouse is now being described as a logistics, robotic “state of the art” facility.
It’s a $350 million project, McMahon said, which would produce $28 million in tax revenue for local municipalities.
The fulfillment center will be the “first of its kind” in Upstate New York, McMahon and Mehta said. Employees will work alongside robotic technology to pick, pack and ship customer orders. It will be open by Septebmer 2021, in time for the holiday shopping season.
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, Clay Town Supervisor Damian Ulatowski and Rep. John Katko (R-NY24) joined McMahon at the news conference for the announcement.
Onondaga County approved $71 million in tax breaks over 15 years for the Clay warehouse project. The company will receive $20,000,000 in sales tax breaks, more than $49,000,000 in property tax breaks and nearly $1.7 million in mortgage tax breaks over 15 years.
With no development, the golf course would pay about $800,000 dollars in taxes over the next 15 years, McMahon said. Even with the tax breaks, economic experts say the warehouse will generate 28% more than that.
McMahon was asked about recent protests by Amazon employees over how the company has treated them during the pandemic. McMahon said there are “two sides to every story,” and believes Amazon won’t just be a good neighbor, but “a great neighbor.”
Construction on the warehouse is underway.
Posted by CentralNY.com
