State and local officials joined Amazon representatives Tuesday to mark the start of construction on a 3.2-million-square-foot warehouse spanning the Naugatuck and Waterbury town line.
“In addition to the several thousand workers Amazon already employs in Connecticut, this new fulfillment center in Naugatuck will add an additional 1,000 jobs to the local economy,” Gov. Ned Lamont said. “I applaud Amazon’s continued investments in Connecticut, and I look forward to the impact this new facility will have on the region and the state for years to come.”
Amazon paid $2.5 million for a 157-acre development site in April. Straddling the municipal border, the site’s steep slopes and difficult approach from the Waterbury side confounded development efforts for decades.
Former Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary and Naugatuck Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess broke the impasse with an agreement to jointly pursue development of the site — which was mostly owned by Waterbury. The Brass City got most of the land sale proceeds, but both municipalities will evenly split tax revenues.
“This is an exciting day for Waterbury, the Borough of Naugatuck and the entire Naugatuck Valley,” current Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski said Tuesday, noting the promise of jobs. “Amazon’s decision to grow here shows its confidence in our region and its long-term commitment to Connecticut’s economic future.”
Amazon first revealed its interest in developing the Waterbury–Naugatuck site in January 2022. That commitment became clearer eight months later, when the company paid $4.8 million for an 8.5-acre property on Sheriden Drive in Naugatuck that included a 55,349-square-foot industrial building. Amazon planned to demolish the structure to make way for an access road leading to the larger site.
Under the purchase agreement for the main parcel, the company was required to begin site work within a year and complete the warehouse within three years, with the option to extend the construction timeline by up to 18 months.
Pennsylvania-based developer Bluewater Property Group began site work in May, on a project an Amazon representative said will unfold “over the next few years.” The Amazon representative was unable to relay a target completion date or project budget.
“Seeing the first steel go up is always an exciting milestone, especially for a project with the kind of challenging sitework as we faced here,” said Bluewater Vice PresidentChristina Bernardin. “As the developer, it’s incredibly rewarding to watch the vision and hard work of the past few years begin to take physical shape.”
The robotic-assisted fulfillment center now under construction will be a “first-mile” facility, where products are received, stored and prepared for shipment. From there, items move to a sortation center before reaching delivery stations, where they are loaded onto vans for final delivery.
Amazon designed the new complex to handle up to 800,000 packages a day. It will be the company’s seventh robotics fulfillment or sortation center in Connecticut, joining facilities in Windsor, Wallingford, North Haven and Cromwell. The company also operates 10 delivery stations and 13 Whole Foods Market stores across the state.
Since 2010, Amazon said it has invested more than $11.5 billion in Connecticut, including infrastructure and employee compensation tied to the more than 15,500 jobs it has created here. The company said its fulfillment and transportation employees earn an average of $23 an hour and receive a full benefits package.