The steel skeleton of a future Amazon fulfillment center is rising from the former tobacco fields on the northern edge of Windsor.
Construction work at 1201 Kennedy Road hummed along Thursday morning, with crews hauling materials from a roadside staging area about a quarter mile to the building site. The multistory structure is now visible from vantage points along Interstate 91 and Route 20.
In an email, Town Manager Peter Souza said the project’s developer expects the complex to be “substantially completed” by the fourth quarter of 2021, though disruptive winter weather could affect that timeline. Amazon has not yet said when it will begin hiring workers to staff the center, Souza added.
Amazon’s public relations department did not immediately respond to questions concerning the facility’s projected opening date.
The e-commerce giant, which has its corporate headquarters in Seattle, has said the Kennedy Road operation will create about 1,000 new jobs within two years, and all employees based there will start off making $15 per hour with health benefits.
In June, the Town Council unanimously approved a three-year property tax abatement worth about $8.8 million for the building.
The abatement is scheduled to expire at the end of fiscal year 2025, at which point projected tax revenue likely will total about $5.4 million annually.
At the time, Souza said Amazon would make an effort to hire local residents for full- and part-time positions at the Kennedy Road center and support area organizations and programs.
Windsor already hosts an Amazon warehouse at 801 Day Hill Road, which employs over 250 residents. Town leaders cited that boon to local job-seekers in approving the tax break for the Kennedy Road parcel.
Amazon is also in the process of converting a vacant industrial building on Helmsford Way into a package distribution center.
The building formerly housed Arrow Value Recovery, which refurbished and repurposed unwanted electronics such as computers, printers, mobile phones, servers, tablets, and other devices for large industrial clients.
