Tenant expected at massive Schuylkill County facility by fall; will it be Amazon?
Mar. 18—An online job recruitment service lists openings for an Amazon Distribution Center listed in Tremont, but no one is saying if that will be the tenant for the nearby Rausch Creek Logistics Center complex.
Since the fall, Helpwanted.com has had a listing seeking full- and part-time associates in an ad that says Amazon Warehouse, Tremont, Pa.
Sam Fisher, a spokesperson for Amazon, said Friday the ad was for a Berks County location and didn't know why it mentioned Tremont.
The world's largest online retailer, Amazon has "fulfillment centers" in the region near Hazleton, Hamburg and Reading. The massive warehouses typically employ hundreds if not thousands of people.
Fisher said he could not discuss any possible real estate acquisitions for Amazon.
A supervisor for the construction site also declined to identify a potential tenant.
"I can neither confirm or deny that Amazon will be the tenant," Clay Mays, site superintendent for Clayco, the general contractor for the project, said Friday.
Work at the 1,346,755-square-foot building in Frailey Twp. is about 95% complete, he said, having started about 1 1/2 years ago. Interior work, such as for offices and bathrooms, is incomplete.
"It's essentially a shell," he said of the building.
The company will also still need to apply for permits from Frailey Twp.
Plans for the site also show a 1,040,540-square-foot building that has yet to be constructed.
Mays said it is his understanding that a tenant will occupy the building by the fall. Asked if the company involved has any distribution centers in other counties nearby, he declined to answer.
"Even when their sign is up, I can't say who the tenant is," he said, citing legal restrictions.
Bobby Klucker, senior development manager with Panattoni, the project developer, said Friday a tenant lease is not yet in place.
"In the next six months, we fully expect to have a tenant for that building," he said.
The company has been fielding calls from interested companies. Potential leases have been in the 10- to 15-year timeframe, he said.
Donald Allar, chairman of the Frailey Twp. board of supervisors, said last week he heard rumors of Amazon coming but has not heard anything official.
Contact the writer: amarchiano@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6023
