Even without any generous state and local development incentives, Amazon.com may be willing to go ahead with its $250 million distribution campus, which is slated to be on the site of the demolished Pontiac Silverdome.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Pontiac Mayor Deirdre Waterman said the e-commerce behemoth has not demanded any subsidies or financial incentives.
The planned fulfillment center and delivery station is expected to employ about 1,500 people.
The silence on Amazon’s end would be a change from its past business practices in Michigan.
Amazon has garnered a total of $21 million in performance-based grants from the Michigan Strategic Fund since 2016. These were for the construction of four fulfillment centers in Livonia, Romulus, Shelby Township and near Grand Rapids.
As one of the world’s largest and profitable organizations, the Seattle-based company has often been the target of scathing criticisms, much of them stemming from its desire to attain generous public subsidies. The company also uses this strategy to lower its annual federal tax bill.
"They didn’t, as far as I know, ask for any state or federal incentives," Waterman told the Detroit Free Press regarding the Silverdome site project. "It is quite unusual, because in doing my due diligence in talking to mayors of other cities that have fulfillment centers, they’ve all been asked for incentives. So this date, I can clearly state that no, the city has not been asked for any incentives nor offered any.”
It is worth noting that the 127-acre site is within a federal Opportunity Zone, a title that can provide capital gains tax breaks to investors. It isn’t known, however, whether Amazon will use that particular designation.
Amazon's delivery station could be finished as early as this fall. The 3.8 million-square-foot fulfillment center is targeting to be fully operational by the fall of 2021, according to city documents.
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