Under a sunny sky tempered by a chilly, blustery wind, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz on Friday stepped behind a lonely lectern placed atop the grassy overgrowth and broken asphalt remains of the former Southwyck Shopping Center to reveal the “most poorly kept secret in Toledo” — Amazon Inc. will build a 150,000-square-foot “Delivery Station” and create 10 full-time jobs and 110 part-time jobs.
“This announcement is about as good as it gets,” the mayor said while other officials unveiled a large cardboard sign that read: “City of Toledo Welcomes Amazon.”
The mall, demolished in 2009, was later bought by the city for $3.6 million but despite multiple attempts the city had been unable to find an occupant for the 58-acre parcel over the last five years it has owned the vacant site in South Toledo.
Two years ago the city began working on efforts to rezone the site from a previous retail designation to a current limited industrial. The change occurred last July.
That change, the mayor and other officials said, was the key to landing Amazon as a occupant. The two began discussions six months ago when Amazon expressed interest in using the site to cut its package delivery time from 48 hours to less than 24 hours.
Amazon has been constructing a huge Fulfillment Center in Rossford. The 700,000-square-foot facility will bring as many as 3,000 jobs and be ready by August.
Brandon Sehlhorst, the city’s commissioner of economic development, said the Southwyck site project will result in one-story building of up to 150,000 square feet.
“My understanding is that products from the Rossford warehouse would be sent to this Delivery Station and Amazon delivery trucks will deliver those packages to your home. You would get your order in less than 24 hours,” Mr. Sehlhorst said.
The proposed structure of the deal allows the city to recoup its December, 2014 investment of $3.6 million. The property will be sold to Amazon for $1, but no other incentives are being offered by the city.
The $3.6 million will be repaid over 30 years, using tax increment financing, through bonds, holding costs, and other things, the mayor said.
On Friday afternoon the city assembled legislation for the deal that City Council will consider next week.
A buyback option allows the city to buy the property back for $1 in the event Amazon has not developed the property within four years, officials said.
But Mr. Sehlhorst said Amazon has indicated it wants to start construction this spring and finish by year’s end.
Mr. Kapszukiewicz said Amazon was the city’s top preference for taking over the site. “It took a while, but we got our No. 1 pick,” the mayor added.
Mr. Sehlhorst said the timeline to landing Amazon began in 2017 when the city was putting together a proposal for Amazon’s “HQ2” national hunt for a second headquarters site. Like other cities nationwide, Toledo put together a proposal pitching the Southwyck site.
Mr. Sehlhorst said the city knew it had no hope of landing the headquarters, “but by offering Southwyck we figured we might get on (Amazon’s) radar.”
The city was hoping it might get the Fulfillment Center that eventually went to Rossford, but Mr. Sehlhorst said that the 700,000-square-foot Fulfillment Center would have been a bad fit for the Southwyck site.
“There would have been semis rolling up and down Reynolds Road and the noise would have been constant,” he said. The Delivery Station is smaller, but could be expanded, and it will use smaller delivery trucks.
Toledo City Councilman Matt Cherry, who represents the district that encompasses the Southwyck site, said he is hopeful that the Amazon project will kickstart a revival of that area.
Councilman-at-Large Rob Ludeman, who used to represent the area and lives just a mile from the site, said it was “a great day for Toledo and especially South Toledo.”
Some of the area’s residents were hoping for a revival of retail on the site, but Mr. Ludeman said watching his children order package after package from Amazon convinced him the area stands a better chance with the Amazon Delivery Station.
“That’s the future,” he said.
Proponents are hoping that interest in the Southwyck property will increase attention from stronger industry sectors, including logistics and distribution facilities.
There is precedent in surrounding cities where former mall sites were purchased by companies such as Amazon, demolished, and remediated into new Fulfillment Centers.
The company has a history of doubling up in certain areas. Akron is home to an Amazon Fulfillment Center and secured a second, smaller facility in July.
In November, Amazon announced in the span of 10 months two Fulfillment Centers in Olive Branch, Miss.
First Published March 13, 2020, 1:26 p.m.
