AMAZON TO BUILD DISTRIBUTION CENTER IN PULLMAN, BRINGING HUNDREDS OF JOBS: ALDERMAN
A Pullman industrial parcel once touted as the site of a Chicago casino would, instead, house an Amazon distribution center — but only if the 150,000 square foot warehouse can be up and running by Oct. 31.
Local Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) said that would require Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration to expedite building permits and put a “Class 6B” property tax break on a fasttrack toward City Council approval.
According to Beale, Amazon needs only that to start building a 40-acre distribution center at 104th and Woodlawn at a site once owned by Ryerson Steel. No tax-increment-financing subsidy or other city assistance is required.
“We’ve moving on a very aggressive timeframe. … We need to get things done in a timely manner in order to make this happen by Oct. 31,” Beale said Monday.
“It’s a pre-fab building. They’re gonna work overtime. They’re gonna work long hours. And we’re gonna get this thing open and operational by Oct. 31. We have a preliminary deal to make this happen.”
Amazon declined to comment. A company source said while no deal has been finalized, it is considering a delivery station at the Pullman site, not a full warehouse. In Amazon lexicon, a delivery station is smaller.
The company on Jan. 7 announced plans for a delivery station on the site of the old Maywood Park racetrack in Melrose Park.
In an official statement, Amazon said, “We are constantly exploring new locations and weighing a variety of factors when deciding where to develop sites to best serve customers, however, we don’t provide information on our future roadmap.”
Beale, a 20-year alderman, lost his committee chairmanship after opposing Lightfoot’s choice of Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) as Finance Committee chairman.
But their political differences won’t hinder the expedited schedule Amazon requires, he said.
“This is about jobs,” he said. “I’m confident that this will move as fast as we need it to move.”
Early Monday, Lightfoot at first said city officials “haven’t heard anything from Amazon.” Hours later, the mayor’s office acknowledged that, although it hasn’t “connected with Amazon on this deal directly,” city planners have “spoken with the developer to discuss underlying zoning” for the proposed site.
“The City welcomes opportunities to drive inclusive economic growth for our South and West Side communities, and Pullman is one of our priority areas,” a statement from the mayor’s office said.
Beale said Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives and the Ryan Companies, Amazon’s designated developer, have been in contact with the city and “started clearing” the treefilled site last Friday.
The land is owned by CNI, a non-profit created by U.S. Bank that is run by David Doig, who served as planning and development commissioner and Chicago Park District superintendent under former Mayor Richard M. Daley.
For years, Beale touted the site at 104th and Woodlawn as a potential home for a Chicago casino. Amazon, Beale said, would create 500 temporary construction jobs and “a few hundred” permanent jobs starting at $15 an hour.
“A casino is definitely more jobs and more opportunity. But it was an uphill battle for a casino,” the alderman said.
And why did Amazon choose Pullman? “It’s great access off the expressway. You can still get to Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin and all of Illinois,” Beale said. “It’s a great location.”
Doig could not be reached for comment. Peter Strazzabosco, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Planning and Development, had no immediate comment on Beale’s request to fast-track permits and the property tax break.
An Amazon source said the company typically seeks no tax breaks to build a delivery station.
Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter issued a statement objecting to the tax break.
Reiter’s statement started by highlighting Pullman’s role in the 1894 railroad strike that would “forever change the direction of the American Labor movement.”
The CFL has an ownership stake in Sun-Times Media.
“Today, more than a century later, a company with an ultra-wealthy chief executive and a long track record of anti-union, antiworker behavior is rumored to be planning a massive facility in the heart of Pullman — and to be asking for a tax break from Chicago’s working families to build it,” Reiter was quoted as saying.
“The Chicago Federation of Labor calls on Amazon to build union, operate union, and participate in a robust community engagement process around any proposed facility. The CFL also opposes any effort to hand out tax breaks to anti-union companies, especially ones that rake in more than $11 billion in profit without paying any federal income tax.”
According to the Cook County assessor’s website, properties getting the Class 6B tax breaks “will be assessed at 10% of market value for the first 10 years, 15% in the 11th year and 20% in the 12th year.”