Amazon Distribution Center Could Be Coming To Detroit: Mayor

DETROIT, MI — Plans are in place to bring an Amazon distribution center to the former Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit by 2020, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced Tuesday morning in a news conference.

Duggan announced that the city is set to sell 142 acres of the former fairgrounds to two development groups, Hillwood Investment Properties and the Sterling Group, for $9 million. The deal did not feature any tax breaks or incentives, Duggan said.

"This was the single largest development property left in the city of Detroit, and what Detroiters need are jobs," Duggan said Tuesday. "We need good paying jobs and jobs of the future."

The facility would open in 2022, occupying 78 acres and bringing a minimum of 1,200 jobs to the city.

While a minimum of 1,200 jobs are expected to come to the city as a result of the facility's opening, Duggan said he hopes more than 2,000 are created. He added that a contract between the city and the groups investing in the property calls for employees to be paid at least $15 per hour, with benefits.

"At a time when the city unemployment rate exceeds 30 percent, where it stands today, getting these kinds of jobs that Detroiters can fill promptly is a high priority," Duggan said.

The facility is expected to be about 3.8 million square feet in size, Duggan said. The rest of the fairgrounds property remains available for further development.

The agreement also includes that Hillwood Investment Properties and the Sterling Group pay an additional $6 million toward a new transit hub near the facility that will handle nine new routes and serving an estimated 30,000 riders a week.