BERLIN: Construction is about to start for one of the largest private-sector investments ever in the Town of Hamburg.
Crews are expected to be on site within the next few days along a 51-acre parcel at the corner of Bayview and Lakeshore roads where a Kansas City development firm will be constructing a 320,000-square-foot complex for FedEx Ground Transport. The $50 million project will be home to more than 600 employees.
The project, several years in the making, is dwarfed only by the construction of the McKinley Mall in terms of development price tag for Hamburg.
“It is the biggest project we’ve seen since then,” said Michael Bartlett, Town of Hamburg Industrial Development Agency executive director. “I could see it spurring other projects.”
The final pre-construction pieces to the project were completed in the past few days.
First, an affiliate of Kansas City-based Jones Development Co., JR Fort Collins LLC, paid $1,217,000 for the vacant land, buying it from Hamburg Land Development Co., according to documents filed in the Erie County Clerk’s office. Hamburg Land Development Co. is an affiliate of the Hamburg IDA. Jones is paying approximately $23,862 per acre for the land.
Jones is leasing the building to FedEx.
Then, the Town of Hamburg issued the building permit for the project.
The building is expected to open early next year and will replace the current FedEx Ground facility in Cheektowaga.
Two years ago, a separate FedEx unit agreed to anchor an 88,000-square-foot building in TM Montante’s Riverview Solar Park in the Town of Tonawanda. The $10.2 million project, opened last fall, and saw Fed Ex add 82 new workers.
Before selecting the Hamburg site, FedEx’s real estate team had considered other locations in Cheektowaga, Buffalo, Lackawanna and West Seneca. A key is being next to an active rail line, which is necessary for its transportation needs. The Hamburg site adjoins an active rail line.
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