Home Depot distribution center to be built in Schuyler Business Park: What to know
Home Depot will build a last-mile distribution center in the Schuyler Business Park in Herkimer County, bringing new jobs to the area.
The Herkimer County Industrial Development Agency (IDA), in partnership with Bloom Utica, LLC, announced the project Monday.
The project is estimated to cost around $9 million, with initial site work planned to begin this fall and construction beginning in spring of 2023. John Piseck, Chief Executive Officer of the IDA, estimates that construction will be finished by fall of 2023.
The last-mile facility will consist of a 52,000 square-foot distribution facility with 15 dock doors, 50 automobile stalls, 34 box truck stalls and an office space, and will be located at Andrew Usyk, Sr. Drive in Schuyler. The facility will serve as a transportation hub, where trucks will go to pick up and then deliver online-ordered products to area residents' homes.
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New jobs expected at the Schuyler Home Depot distribution center
Jim Bono, Chairman of the Herkimer County of Legislature and member of the IDA's Board of Directors, estimates that the facility will create 50-70 jobs upon completion.
"These are good-paying working jobs for, you know, people that want to do some hard work, and they can really make out well there," said John Piseck, Chief Executive Officer of the IDA.
The construction of the site itself is also expected to bring revenue to the local construction industry. Bloom Utica's financial assistance application to the IDA for the project stipulates that approximately $5.5 million in labor and materials cost will be sourced within the Mohawk Valley Regional Economic Development Council Region. The region consists of Herkimer, Oneida, Fulton, Montgomery, Schoharie and Otsego counties.
"We're using all local construction for it," said Piseck. "All local construction people."
Tax break details for Home Depot distribution center
The IDA has been working with developer Bloom Utica LLC to secure Home Depot's interest in the Schuyler Business Park for approximately a year and a half, said Piseck. The IDA has incentivized the project by providing Home Depot with several different payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) exemptions over the course of its first 10 years of operation.
The most significant exemption is in property tax; Home Depot will only pay 50% of its property tax upon its first year of operation, estimated at $76,500, and will continue to pay 5% more each year until the duration of its first 10 years are up. It will pay its first full year of property taxes, estimated at $153,000, at the end of its 11th year of operation.
Another exemption baked into the project comes in the form of a sales tax exemption for all project-related purchases. This exemption will wipe an estimated $258,860 cost in sales tax off the top of $3.1 million worth of project-related purchases. Bono said that sales tax exemptions usually go towards any material purchases associated with development projects.
"Any material that they buy, wood, plywood, concrete, they're exempt from sales tax," said Bono.
Another exemption in the deal comes in the form of mortgage recording tax exemptions. In New York, businesses typically have to pay a one-time, 1% tax on the full-amount of their mortgage for "the privilege of recording a mortgage on real property located within the state," according to a New York State government site. Home Depot will be exempted from paying this tax.
"We're very happy that they're coming to Schuyler," said Anthony Lucenti, Schuyler's Town Supervisor. "They're going to be a great fit for the business park."
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Home Depot distribution center to open in Schuyler Business Park
