LANSING – eTail giant Amazon.Com will build a one million square foot fulfillment warehouse in Livonia and hire one thousand employees after receiving a $7.5 million grant Tuesday from the Michigan Strategic Fund.
While all the details remain sketchy and unconfirmed, the Michigan Economic Development Corp told Crain’s Detroit the MEDC is “encouraged by Amazon’s eagerness to begin and complete construction on what promises to be a high-profile, impact project.”
Amazon will build its one million square foot Midwest distribution center on property once owned by General Motors Corp. Whether Amazon will use the entire 116-acre site at 13000 Eckles Road, between Plymouth and Schoolcraft roads, remains uncertain.
Wayne County Executive Warren Evans told Crain’s the proximity to Interstates 96 and 275, Detroit Metropolitan Airport and an international border crossing with Canada as factors that might have contributed to Michigan’s ability to attract Amazon.
The MEDC memo said new jobs will be related to warehousing and storage. Another 500 jobs could be added once the warehouse begins operation. Evans said a starting average salary would be roughly $28,500, or nearly $550 a week before taxes.
MEDC administrators said in a memo that Amazon also considered Indiana and Ohio for the project, because the retailer was interested in a site within 350 miles of its Midwest customers. The state also said Amazon qualified for an incentive in part because the state’s low unemployment rate could make it difficult for Amazon to find enough workers for the fulfillment center.
