Online retail giant Amazon has recently revealed plans to develop an 855,000-square-foot new fulfillment center in North Haven, Conn. The Seattle-based company intends to invest $255 million in the new development and create 1,800 jobs. The facility, located at 415 Washington Ave., will breathe new life into the 168-acre former Pratt & Whitney site, which has been lying vacant for more than 15 years. Amazon currently employs roughly 2,000 people in Connecticut, and recently opened a fulfillment center in Windsor and a new sorting center in Wallingford.
“Five years after announcing our first fulfillment center in Connecticut, we’re excited to open a new, state-of-the-art fulfillment center in North Haven, creating more than 1,500 full-time jobs that offer wages 30 percent higher than traditional retail roles and include comprehensive benefits on day one, bonuses and stock awards,” Akash Chauhan, Amazon’s vice president of North America operations, said in a statement.
The project is supported by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) through its First Five Plus program. If proposed job creation and capital investment targets are reached, Amazon will be eligible to receive up to $15 million in Urban and Industrial Sites Reinvestment tax credits, and an additional $5 million in credits if the initial targets are surpassed. Amazon is also eligible for a $5 million sales and use tax exemption on equipment and construction materials for the new facility.
The former Pratt & Whitney site is the largest shovel-ready industrial-commercial site available in the Northeast. Dubbed Northeast Gateway Industrial Park, the property is just two hours away from both New York and Boston, two turns off the I-91 and less than 15 minutes from the I-95 Exchange.
