On May 30, 2012, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie stood with representatives of online retailer Amazon.com to announce the company’s intention to open two facilities in his state.
Eight miles away from that statehouse announcement, Robbinsville community and economic development director Tim McGough heard the news and sensed an opportunity.
“I was immediately reaching out to the people at Amazon to say, ‘You can come right here,’” McGough said.
The call worked. More than seven months—and hours of negotiation—later, Amazon announced Jan. 8 it will open a new, 1-million-square-foot fulfillment distribution center in Robbinsville in early 2014. Located at the intersection of Old York and Gordon roads in the eastern corner of the Matrix Business Park, the warehouse will bring $22-million in payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, and 1,400 jobs to the area. At the facility, Amazon employees will pick, pack and ship items like books and DVDs to customers.
Ranked No. 56 on Fortune magazine’s list of the top American corporations, Amazon earned $48-billion in revenues last year. It is one of four major corporations to open facilities in the township in recent years, joining healthcare technology firm McKesson, automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz and specialty beverage company Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.
“I’m thrilled,” Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried said. “This was a process that took a long time and involved a lot of people. I’m proud of our staff. Just about every town in New Jersey was trying to get this rateable.”
Fried said the Amazon warehouse could bring $1.3-million to Robbinsville this year alone, going a long way to stabilizing taxes in a township where the burden has been overwhelmingly on residents. During the next 20 years, the municipality will receive $13.5-million in tax payments. The school district will receive $5.6 million in taxes in that period just from the Amazon facility.
It’s a huge bump in revenue from what currently is an undeveloped farmfield. As farmland, the parcel generated $2,000 in tax revenue—$1,000 for the school district and $1,000 for the township—per year. With the deal now in place, the school district alone will get $210,000 in taxes this year.
Under the agreement, Amazon will lease the warehouse from KTR, which bought the property from Matrix.
The warehouse itself will be massive, running along Gordon Road for almost a half mile. It will be three times as large as its future neighbor, the McKesson facility currently nearing completion.
There will be 1,400 jobs at the Amazon facility, with each employee receiving $20-25 per hour and full benefits, McGough said. Amazon uses 700 workers per shift regularly. In the weeks leading up to the holiday season, that number will balloon to 1,900 workers.
Changes will be made to accommodate the Amazon warehouse and the trucks and people that come with it. Two new traffic signals will be installed on Old York Road, one at Route 524 near Interstate 195 and one at Montgomery Way at main entrance to Matrix complex. Improvements also will be made at the Old York-Montgomery intersection.
Within the Matrix complex, a new road will be built from Montgomery Way parallel to Old York, along front of the new McKesson and Amazon warehouses. The new road—called John Henry Drive on plans—will wrap around the Amazon warehouse, allowing trucks to access bays on the side of the facility facing Gordon Road.
All truck traffic will come off the New Jersey Turnpike to I-195, then use Exit 8 to take Old York Road to Montgomery Way and the Matrix facility. McGough said the only additional traffic on other roads in Robbinsville will come from workers using Route 130 to get to work. Amazon has purchased a parcel originally slated to be a warehouse for use as parking lot. Plans call for 1,829 parking spaces to be built around the Amazon facility.
Township officials are also part of a multi-organization committee trying figure out the best way to alter the public transportation system to allow workers to take a bus to the Amazon building.
Clearly, there is still a lot of work ahead in a process that has demanded hours of township employees since officials from Robbinsville started meeting with Amazon representatives in June 2012. McGough said he has worked 12-hour days since August trying to hammer out details and ensure Amazon would choose Robbinsville. Since mid-November, he said he spent three hours each evening talking with Amazon representatives. McGough practically resided in his office, but said he doesn’t regret it.
“I live here,” McGough said. “But it’s worth it. And I like what I do.”
The will to please potential rateables seems to go hand-in-hand with a major focal point of Fried’s administration. The mayor has spent the last few years pledging to make the municipal government more streamlined and easier to deal with for businesses.
McGough pointed to this effort—and the township’s location—as key factors in the rash of companies moving to Robbinsville.
Amazon’s new home serves as a case in point. In October 2008, only about 40 percent of the land in the Matrix park was occupied. More than four years later, Amazon brings that number up to 95 percent.
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