Waterbury eyes selling 17.3-acres to Amazon, a sign of continued interest in 3M-sq.-ft. logistics development
RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED
A rendering of the Amazon distribution warehouse planned for Waterbury/Naugatuck.
Nearly four years after a massive Amazon warehouse was proposed for about 157 acres straddling the Waterbury and Naugatuck border, all signs point to the e-commerce giant’s continuing interest in the project.
The city of Waterbury has proposed selling 17.3-acres of undeveloped land in Naugatuck to an Amazon-affiliated limited liability company for $325,000. The property is adjacent to the main building site and would facilitate access. The city also owns the larger building site.
Waterbury’s Board of Aldermen, at its April 7 meeting, will be asked to schedule an April 21 public hearing regarding the sale.
It would be the second time Amazon.Com Services LLC has purchased property adjacent to the main proposed building site. In August 2022, Amazon paid $4.8 million for an 8.5-acre, industrially zoned property at 193 Sheridan Road, in Naugatuck.
The purchase is yet another sign of Amazon's commitment to the project, Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski said. It also places the property in Naugatuck back on the tax rolls, he noted.
In 2021, Pennsylvania-based Bluewater Property Group was chosen by Waterbury officials as the preferred development partner for a wooded 157-acre property straddling the Waterbury and Naugatuck border.
It is a site Waterbury officials have long sought to develop. City officials agreed to sell the large property to the developer for $2.5 million.
Bluewater, which has built other warehouses for Amazon, is planning to erect a roughly 3-million-square-foot, robotic-assisted logistics facility of up to 130 feet in height on the site in Waterbury and Naugatuck.
Pernerewski expects the sale of the main development site to close within a month and for construction to begin immediately thereafter. That will mean a boom in construction jobs over the coming two years as Bluewater pushes for a June 2027 opening to the new logistics site.
Once operational, the Amazon facility is expected to employ up to 1,000 people. It will also provide a significant increase in personal property and real estate taxes for both municipalities, Pernerewski said.
"It's going to be a really good use of that property and it's going to be really beneficial to both Waterbury and Naugatuck," Pernerewski said.
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