Secret’s out: Amazon is coming to Clay

CLAY, N.Y. — Amazon, Inc., the world’s largest retailer, will be the tenant that occupies the massive warehouse and distribution center under construction in the town of Clay, ending weeks of ongoing speculation about the occupant.

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon on Monday announced the e-commerce giant as the tenant during his daily coronavirus briefing at the Oncenter.

The facility, located on the site of the former Liverpool Public Golf and Country Club on Morgan Road, is expected to generate 1,000 new jobs along with $40 million of new payroll per year, he said.

“We’re very happy about this. You can’t think restart without thinking this once-in-a-generation project,” said McMahon.

He then introduced a video message from Anand Mehta, regional director of operations for Seattle–based Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN).

“It’s not often that we get the opportunity to announce the launch of a new Amazon operations facility virtually to the community, and I’m proud to share with you today that this is just the beginning of several firsts for the community and Amazon,” Mehta said in his videotaped comments. “This facility in Clay will be first of its kind in upstate New York and will be our newest generation of robotics fulfilment centers.”

Future employees will work alongside Amazon’s robots to pick, pack, and ship smaller customer orders, such as books, electronics, and toys, he said.

Amazon also plans to hire people for roles in human resources, operations management, safety, security, finance, and information technology.

Mehta added that Amazon anticipates the facility will launch in time for the 2021 holiday season.

McMahon described the Clay warehouse project as a $350 million “once-in-a-generation investment” with building costs of more than $200 million.

“We’re talking about a property that … essentially would produce $800,000 in taxable revenue over the next 15 years but related to our deal with [developer] Trammel Crow, it will produce $28 million for municipalities,” said McMahon.