Amazon unveils big plans for Katy
Big tax incentive lures shipping center for e-commerce giant to Waller County
Waller County has offered Amazon a substantial tax incentive to build its 10th Texas distribution center in Katy, a move expected to create 1,000 full-time jobs packing and shipping online orders to consumers across Texas and the southern U.S.
The e-commerce giant on Wednesday unveiled plans to build the 1 millionsquare-foot facility on 80 acres just east of Woods Road and Interstate 10. It would be the second of its kind in the Houston area.
The announcement culminated months of negotiations among local officials banking on the project’s economic potential. The city of Katy annexed the land for the facility earlier this month, and Waller County commissioners approved a tiered tax rebate deal for the company shortly afterward.
As part of the deal, the county will refund at least 50 percent of the taxes Amazon pays on the facility if the combined value of its property and inventory exceeds $100 million. The agreement requires the company to employ at least
800 people there and hold an annual job fair.
The 20-year deal is the first of its kind for Waller County, which traditionally has offered shorterterm tax abatements in its efforts to entice companies.
“There’s no other deal that compares to this,” County Judge Trey Duhon said. “This is Amazon, and when you have a Fortune 100 company, it’s a whole different ball game.”
Duhon said that in recent years the county has offered three or four incentive packages annually and bases them on job creation, land improvements and other measurements of economic impact.
An analysis by the Greater Houston Partnership valued the forthcoming Amazon center’s annual economic impact at nearly $200 million. It’s expected to generate about $500,000 a year in tax revenue after rebates. Bob Harvey, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, described that in a statement as “yet another substantial investment” locally by Amazon.
The retailer already secured tax breaks in Harris County to build a fulfilment center in the Pinto Business Park at the southwest corner of Interstate 45 and Beltway 8. Commissioners last year granted the company a 10-year tax break expected to save it nearly $180,000 annually.
Amazon is investing $136 million in that facility, an 855,000-square-foot warehouse expected to open later this year. The company also operates a sorting center in Humble, as well as a separate, rapid-delivery Prime Now hub in the area.
Amazon hasn’t yet announced when it expects to open the Katy facility. Amazon spokeswoman Ashley Robinson said in an email that the company’s decision to build there was influenced by a number of factors, including proximity to areas of high demand.
“We want to make sure a fulfillment center is placed as close to the customer as possible to ensure we can offer a great Prime service and fast shipping speeds to customers,” she said.
She said the company has no further plans for the Houston area at this time.
Amazon has grown at a breakneck pace in recent years, exploding from 30,000 U.S. employees in 2011 to more than 180,000 at the end of 2016. Earlier this year, it unveiled plans to boost its domestic work force by more than a third by hiring 100,000 fulltime U.S. workers in an 18-month period.
Much of the company’s recent growth has been in Texas. During the last three years, it has opened seven fulfillment centers in the state that now employ more than 10,000 full-time workers.
“This says more about the growth of Amazon than anything about the growth of Houston,” University of Houston economist Bill Gilmer said.
“There’s no other deal that compares to this. This is Amazon, and when you have a Fortune 100 company, it’s a whole different ball game.” County Judge Trey Duhon