$125M Amazon cargo hub — and 1,000 new jobs — coming to Newark airport
Amazon is coming to Newark Liberty International Airport, and bringing with it 1,000 jobs, after Port Authority of New York and New Jersey commissioners approved a 20-year lease of two buildings on the airport’s north side for a regional air cargo hub.
Under the lease, approved Thursday, Amazon will spend $125 million to redevelop two 1990s vintage buildings into a new state-of-the-art 250,000 square foot air cargo campus. The facility, which could open during the first quarter of 2023, is expected to employ 1,000 people, primarily from communities surrounding the airport, said Huntley Lawrence, Authority director of aviation.
“This will be a regional hub on the east coast,” said Rick Cotton, Port Authority executive director. “Cargo will come in and be dispatched in large shipments to last mile distribution warehouses.”
The Amazon redevelopment will not require Port Authority funding and the Authority, which has seen COVID-19 sap revenues due to travel downturns, will receive a lump sum upfront payment of $150 million and another $157 million in additional rent over the next 20 years. It has the potential to increase the airport’s workforce by almost 5%, enhancing its role as a vital part of the Authority’s recovery from the economic impacts of COVID-19, said Kevin O’Toole, Authority board of commissioners chairman.