By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Amazon officials got same day delivery on their request for a tax abatement at a newly proposed warehouse in Wood County.
The e-commerce giant is interested in making a $100 million investment to purchase approximately 160 acres and construct a 600,000-square-foot warehouse in Perrysburg Township.
This second Amazon site in the county would employ an estimated 500 people.
Kyle DeGiulio, a representative of Amazon, said the company is still looking at other potential sites in the region.
“We haven’t closed on the purchase of the property,” DeGiulio said Thursday morning after the meeting with the county commissioners.
But the deal was sweetened a bit by the Wood County Commissioners unanimously approving Amazon’s request for a 100% property tax abatement for 10 years. That agreement was approved the day before by the Perrysburg Township Trustees.
The school districts affected by the tax abatement have already entered agreements with Amazon to be made whole for their share of the tax revenues. For Rossford school district that will add up to an estimated $640,000 annually, and for Penta Career Center that will bring in about $46,000 a year for the life of the enterprise zone agreement.
The site being considered sits north of U.S. 20 just east of the Home Depot store and west of the Perrysburg Township offices on Lime City Road. The warehouse would not be far from the existing Amazon fulfillment center, according to Wood County Economic Development Commission Executive Director Wade Gottschalk.
DeGiulio said the warehouse facility is intended to employ about 500 full-time workers. Amazon has a current minimum wage of $15 an hour. But DeGiulio said the average entry level person with Amazon earns $20.50 an hour – and he expects that to be the starting wage at the warehouse.
While the warehouse will have about the same size footprint as the current Amazon fulfillment center, it will be just one-story with mezzanines in some parts of the building. The structure, with Ambrose as the developer, is the type that can be constructed quickly, DeGiulio said. The goal would be to have it completed by the end of 2025.
When asked about the use of solar power on the warehouse, DeGiulio said most Amazon buildings are designed for rooftop solar.
Traffic patterns at the new warehouse would require trucks to use Deimling Road, and employees to use Route 20, Gottschalk said.
The county commissioners supported the enterprise zone agreement, noting the jobs Amazon has already brought to Wood County.
“I consider Amazon to be a really high quality business. It’s really helped us in Wood County,” Commissioner Ted Bowlus said.
“Thank you for the investment in the county,” Commissioner Craig LaHote said to DeGiulio.
