Revised IDA Incentive Package for $607-Million Amazon Project on Cusp of Approval Vote
A rendering of the 3.2-million-square-foot Amazon project to be built in Slate Hill.
By John Jordan
SLATE HILL—The $607-million Amazon fulfillment center project to be built at a former quarry on Route 6 in Slate Hill is on the cusp of possibly securing its necessary approvals and commencing construction soon.
A revised and reduced incentive package could be voted on at the Orange County Industrial Development Agency’s scheduled Board of Directors meeting next week.
Developer Scannell Properties and Amazon recently amended their application before the Orange County Industrial Development Agency for its 3.2-million-square-foot fulfillment center in Wawayanda and are now seeking approval a 10-yer PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes Agreement) that would provide approximately $69.6 million in incentives as compared to the prior, failed 15-year PILOT that was estimated at approximately $80 million in financial assistance for the project.
A public hearing was held by the Orange County IDA on Sept. 10 at the Minisink Middle School in Slate Hill, NY and an IDA official said that the revised PILOT will likely be voted on at its next Board of Directors meeting on Sept. 30 at its headquarters in New Windsor, NY.
Bill Fioravanti, Chief Executive Officer of the Orange County Industrial Development Agency, announced the amended application for financial assistance by Amazon Services LLC and Scannell Properties #600 LLC for the $607-million project at the IDA’s Board of Directors meeting on Aug. 19 at the IDA’s offices in New Windsor.
In a Aug. 18 letter to the Orange County IDA, Robert G. Murray, an attorney with Harris Beach Murtha of Buffalo, NY, representing Amazon/Scannell, submitted the amended IDA application, which is the second revision of its original application for a 20-year PILOT request on March 21, 2025. Amazon/Scannell issued its first amended application, seeking a 15-year PILOT worth approximately $80 million, on Sept. 23, 2025.
That proposal was eventually approved by the Orange County IDA, including $31,008,750 in sales and use tax exemptions. However, State-appointed IDA Monitor Brian Sanvidge issued a “Notice of Violation” thereby vetoing the IDA vote on the incentives in late November 2025.
Since then, the project has been in limbo, mired in litigation, with a judge upholding the IDA monitor’s veto of incentives, but another court upholding the Wawayanda Planning Board’s approval of a needed height variance and site plan approval among a host of court actions pertaining to the project.
Murray stated in the letter to the IDA that the 10-year PILOT “will deliver positive impacts to the Town of Wawayanda and Orange County,” including approximately $10 million more in projected tax payments than the previous 15-year PILOT proposal. He noted that the 10-year PILOT would generate more than $32 million in tax payments than its original 20-year PILOT proposal.
According to figures supplied by the Orange County IDA, the total incentive package to Scannell/Amazon from the 10-year PILOT is $69,707,010.88. Over the 10-year term, the PILOT will generate $11,209,389 in revenue for Minisink Valley School District and $5,431,119 for Ambulance and Fire. Once the PILOT expires, Minisink Valley Schools will receive $7.76 million in property tax revenue from Amazon in Year 11 alone.
The IDA has since revised the value of the 10-year PILOT to $69,598,263
The Orange County IDA held a public hearing on the new 10-year PILOT on Sept. 10 at the Minisink Middle School. The project is considered to be among the largest ever private investment projects in Orange County. The plan calls for the construction of a five-story, Amazon robotic fulfillment/distribution center at 22 McBride Road in Slate Hill. Each floor (two below grade and three above grade) would total approximately 600,000 square feet.
L. Todd Dioro, president of the Hudson Valley Building and Construction Trades Council, said that negotiations are ongoing on a possible Project Labor Agreement but noted that he fully expects the project to be built predominantly by union workers. The building trades have supported the project throughout the approval process, as has the Orange County Partnership.
The project will create approximately 2,427 total jobs, including 750 full-time jobs within three years of completion and up to 630 direct construction jobs and another 770 indirect construction jobs according to a third-party economic impact study. Under a new state law, any project that receives a PILOT from an industrial development agency in Orange County must pay prevailing wage or enter into a Project Labor Agreement with the Hudson Valley Building & Construction Trades Council.
A host of business and building trades officials testified at the public hearing in support of the project, including Sam Fratto, Business Manager of IBEW Local 363 of Wallkill, NY and Vice President of the Hudson Valley Building Trades: Matthew Stoddard, Business Manager of Ironworkers Local 417 in Wallkill, NY and Recording Secretary of the Hudson Valley Building Trades; Conor Eckert, President and CEO of the Orange County Partnership; Lucas Irace, Director of Business Attraction & Development for the Orange County Partnership and Dan Depew, CEO and Executive Director of the Construction Contractors Association of the Hudson Valley of Newburgh. NY.
