By John Jordan
SLATE HILL—Scannell Properties of Indianapolis, IN and Seattle, WA-based Amazon have filed a joint application with the Orange County Industrial Development Agency for tax incentives in connection with their fully-approved, $229-million, 925,000-square-foot warehouse distribution project to be built on 100 acres of a former commercial sand gravel mine. The Orange County Partnership has worked with both Scannell Properties and Amazon for the last year on securing the entitlements for the project.
The proposed “Slate Hill Commerce Center” is located at 22 McBride Road and Hoops Road in Slate Hill in the Town of Wawayanda. If the project moves forward it would mark the entrance of international industrial real estate development firm Scannell Properties into Orange County. Amazon on the other hand already has extensive operations in Orange County with a 1-million-square-foot warehouse/distribution facility in Montgomery (opened in 2021) and leased space in New Windsor. The firm is also building a 631,000-square-foot warehouse in Fishkill in Dutchess County, according to Mid Hudson News. Officials with the development project appeared before the Orange County IDA on Feb. 15.
The Slate Hill Commerce Center project would also involve the cessation of all commercial mining operations at the property. According to documents filed with the Orange County IDA, the project applicant: Scannell Properties #600 and Amazon.com Services LLC, secured a negative declaration to its proposed Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Oct. 12, 2022 by the Town of Wawayanda.
Once completed, all of the 925,000-square-foot building, which would include some office space, would be leased by Amazon. In total, Scannell and Amazon are seeking nearly $10.7 million in sales and mortgage recording tax incentives to develop the warehouse facility.
In its paperwork with the IDA, Scannell/Amazon estimated that construction could start on the project in the second quarter of 2023 and be completed anywhere from the third quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2025. When operational, the project is expected to create 150 new jobs. No estimates were provided on the number of construction jobs that would be created during development.
The IDA filings break down the project cost as follows:
• Property Acquisition: $27,780,000
• Value of Improvements: $148,921,091
• Engineering/Architectural services: $2,700,000
• Soft Costs: $25,000,000
• Total Capital Costs (Scannell Properties): $204,401,091
• Amazon: (Equipment Purchases, Fixtures, Furnishings); $25,000,000
• Total Development Cost: $229,401,091
The project will be developed with $153,300,818 of bank financing and $51,100,273 of equity.
Scannel Properties is seeking a $7,486,658 sales tax exemption and a $1,149,756 in mortgage recording tax exemption in connection with its property acquisition and development costs. Amazon has filed with the IDA seeking $2,031,250 in sales tax exemptions for its investment in the project.
Incentives Sought:
Scannell Properties
Sales Tax Exemption $7,486,658
Mortgage Tax Exemption: $1,149,756
Total: $8,636,414
Amazon:
Sales Tax Exemption: $2,031,250
Total Value of Combined Incentives: $10,667,664
The second major Amazon warehouse project in Orange County comes as Amazon is reportedly cancelling plans to build dozens of warehouse facilities across the United States in reaction to lower sales growth. Bloomberg first reported that consulting firm MWPVL stated that Amazon is either closing or abandoning plans to open 42 facilities across the country totaling almost 25 million square feet of usable space.
