CHARLOTTE – As the wait for Amazon’s decision about where it will build its $5 billion HQ2 project, the ecommerce giant is making another move to expand its presence in the state.

Charlotte, the state’s largest city, has approved a tax incentive package for a new Amazon distribution center that is expected to add 1,500 jobs.

News outlets reported Charlotte City Council voted Monday for $13 million in incentives for the distribution center expected to open next year. It will be the fourth such center in the Charlotte metro area.

According to The Charlotte Observer, more incentives from Mecklenburg County and the State of North Carolina are coming.


Mayor Vi Lyles said before the vote that the tax breaks for the project near Charlotte-Douglas International Airport is for Amazon.

Amazon is expected to spend $200 million setting up the distribution center.

“The airport plans to reimburse Amazon $4.4 million to design and build a new realignment of Tuckaseegee Road and to move and extend Todd Road.,” The Observer reported.

“The city also plans to reimburse the company $9 million for other infrastructure work. That money would be paid back using new property taxes from the project.”

Councilman James Mitchell said the jobs will pay between $25,000 and $45,000 annually.

The Research Triangle is under consideration along with 19 other metro areas for the HQ2 project and a promise of 50,000 jobs at around $100,000 a year.

Amazon already operates a distribution network in the Triangle for its Amazon Prime program. It also operates three Whole Foods stores across the RTP region.

Charlotte submitted a bid for HQ2 but did not make the final 20.

Economic developers also are pursuing a deal to land a new campus from Apple – reportedly in the Triangle – and an expansion of its data center complex in western North Carolina.

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