By GREGORY ZELLER //
Attempts to locate Amazon’s ballyhooed “HQ2” second headquarters in Long Island City – on paper, an unparalleled boon for the entire region, particularly Nassau and Suffolk counties – failed spectacularly.
But Long Island is still receiving some exciting Amazon packages.
Actually, the Seattle-based e-commerce giant is receiving the packages this time. Two years after Amazon famously scrapped its outer-borough ambitions for the less-politically-charged climes of Virginia, the distributor is significantly increasing its Northeast ambitions, with Long Island at the epicenter and a host of tax-abatement packages in hand.
Tax breaks, of course, ultimately doomed the Long Island City deal, as political forces railed about the Albany-generated sweetheart deals luring the multibillion-dollar multinational to town – a necessary evil of modern corporate development, according to some, way over the top in this case, according to others.
Perhaps anticipating future deals in and around Greater New York, Amazon never singled out politics for its abrupt decision to locate HQ2 – and its 25,000 full-time jobs – in Virginia (“business friendliness” was merely one factor, Amazon says, along with workforce quality and existing infrastructure).
Whether or not that relative silence was a long play, the property-tax reductions and sales-tax exemptions are flowing now – bringing not one but two cutting-edge Amazon facilities directly to Long Island.
Of particular interest to consumers, especially in the Town of Oyster Bay, is the Northeast Corridor’s second-ever Amazon Fresh grocery, coming soon to Plainview.
The future of food shopping: Coming soon to Plainview.
Filling about 60 percent of a 55,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by Fairway Market, the Manetto Hill Road food store – featuring AI-powered virtual assistants, checkout line-eliminating “Amazon Dash Carts” and other hot tech – joins a new Amazon Fresh rising in New Jersey; the chain already boasts several locations in California and Illinois.
Making a bigger splash – and rekindling old political debates – is a new “last-mile” Amazon warehouse rising in Syosset.
Amazon announced its Syosset intentions last summer and the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency greased the skids last week, issuing preliminary approval of a lucrative incentives package.
Among the sweetness: a 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, resulting in a total property-tax reduction of $8 million, and a sales-tax exemption of up to $2.8 million on the purchase of construction-related materials and equipment.
That handsome package facilitates what Amazon projects as a $72 million construction project, resulting in a state-of-the-art, 204,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility – complete with long-term lease – on an undeveloped 39-acre brownfield site currently blighting Robbins Lane.
In a statistical rarity, the Nassau County IDA issued its preliminary approval by split decision: Lamenting the ubiquitous e-retailer’s relentless pounding of small retailers, malls and big box stores, board member John Coumatos voted against the plan. Other board members questioned the size of the tax reductions before ultimately backing the deal.
By the numbers: Can’t blame the Nassau IDA for being a little defensive, considering recent politics.
While its incentive-package announcements are always filled with benefits breakdowns – X number of jobs created, Y level of projected private investment – the Nassau IDA went to greater lengths to justify Amazon’s Syosset deal, which has also run afoul of the Syosset Central School District.
Not only will the project cap that state-designated brownfield, but the new warehouse will ultimately add 200-plus full-time jobs to Nassau County’s employment rolls – on top of 125 construction-phase jobs, according to the IDA – while generating “an economic output upwards of $300 million” during its first 15 years.
And while an $8 million property-tax break sounds hefty for a king-sized international conglomerate that posted a 38 percent revenue increase in 2020 – jumping $100 billion to eclipse $386 billion in annual sales – Amazon will still pay more than $1.9 million in annual property taxes at the Syosset site during the 15-year deal, nearly doubling the $1 million generated annually by the vacant brownfield.
Nassau County Industrial Development Agency Chairman Richard Kessel blasted the negative politics surrounding the package, calling the idea that Nassau is giving away the store a “dangerous misconception.”
“That couldn’t be further from the truth,” Kessel said. “As a result of this project, the county, Town [of Oyster Bay] and [Syosset Central] School District will be collecting more in revenue than they were before, while also creating more jobs.”
There’s also room for innovation, according to the chairman, who noted even more work “for our entrepreneurial residents that start their own logistics companies as independent [contractors].”
Of course, in an era of ever-increasing e-commerce, having a major logistics center in Long Island’s backyard is very useful. In addition to the financial benefits, the new Amazon distribution center “will improve upon the service this company already provides county residents,” noted Nassau IDA Chief Executive Officer Harry Coghlan.
But more importantly, according to the CEO, Amazon has stepped in where other developers feared to tread – and no tax-abatement controversy can trump that.
“We cannot and should not lose sight of the fact that this land has been vacant for decades,” Coghlan said in a statement. “Regardless of all the development occurring in our region, nobody has wanted to touch this property because of the clean-up challenges.
“Amazon made the iron hot, and the county struck at the opportunity to generate more revenue and create needed employment opportunities.”
