More than a year after winning town approvals and county tax breaks, Amazon’s mega-warehouse project in the Town of Niagara may finally be moving forward.
The Seattle-based company confirmed Wednesday that it has purchased the sprawling property where it plans to construct its $550 million regional distribution center. That was considered a major holdup in starting the project, which is expected to bring more than 1,000 jobs to the site.
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“We feel fairly confident that it’s moving forward,” said Mark Gabriele, counsel for the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency, which had granted $123 million in tax breaks for the project last August and approved a six-month extension on Wednesday. “They own the property now. We haven’t had much contact with them, but we anticipate this project moving forward.”
Amazon did not say how much it paid for the 217 acres of vacant land along Lockport, Packard and Tuscarora roads, adjacent to the Niagara Falls International Airport and Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station. But the late July purchase of the site at 8995 Lockport Road from a New York City-based investment group headed by Morris Fateha at least clears the way for construction to begin.
That would represent a big relief to county leaders and economic development officials. Similar facilities have opened or are in process in Rochester, Syracuse and Wilmington, Del., among other places.
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