Skoufis Rails at Amazon & IDA for $102M in Pilot Benefits Proposal
- ejreporter
- Jun 6
- 2 min read
This coming week, Senator James Skoufis has asked that the public rally and attend a Public Hearing regarding the Amazon Pilot requests re. their
Warehousing Project.
A second sprawling project, called Project Liberty, by the same developer (Scannelli International Realty Properties) according to the Orange County Partnership, is planned adjacent to the Amazon Complex, and is a nationwide beverage distributor. Project Liberty and hopes to achieve regulatory approvals by next month and begin construction in the Fall.
Amazon Warehouse Project 3.2M sf - $220M
Project Liberty 854,000 sf - $150M
Total $370 Million
These projects along Route 6 along with Slate Hill Logistics at up to 932,000 sq, ft. of industrial space are forming a significant business corridor in Waywayanda.
"With these two projects, the Route 6 corridor in Waywayanda/Slate Hill will be the focal point of hundreds of millions in investment and hundreds of good paying construction and permanent jobs," said Conor Eckert, VP of business attraction for The Orange County Partnership,. But Skoufis says that most of the jobs provided at Amazon will probably not be at high paying salaries ($18+/hour), and the totality of tax breaks is outrageous, not needed, and unacceptable. Further, the plan includes the goal of maximizing work done by robots and conveyors.
Orange County is proud of bringing in big business by leaps and bounds, which is of course great for the economy in some ways. But with the increases tax breaks and incentives one wonders how it impacts the potential success, or not, of local small businesses. For instance, Choice Films which offers more than 100,000 sf of infrastructure in Montgomery, including sound stage state of the art stage areas. According to OC Partnership, a NYS Qualified Production Facility like Choice Films facilities qualifies for an additional 10% tax credit, bringing the total New York tax credit incentive to 40%, while many small businesses are still having to "go it alone". Oh, and the $120M Pilot agreement is in addition to more than $10M in Mortgage and Sales Tax exemptions.
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