Pataki Reports $120-Mil Kmart Investment

FLORIDA, NY-Kmart officials joined New York Governor George Pataki and a throng of local politicians and business leaders yesterday, April 5, to announce plans for a 1.6-million sf distribution center here in Montgomery County. The project, estimated at $120 million to develop, is the largest private sector investment in Montgomery County’s history and will create a total of 1,000 jobs, state officials say.

Kmart plans to build a state-of-the-art distribution facility at the Florida Business Park, a 325 acre site located on Route 5S less than two miles from the New York State Thruway. Construction will begin later this year with completion scheduled for late 2002. The site, located in the Amsterdam Empire Zone, will receive $1.25 million toward site and workforce training costs from the Empire State Development Corp.

Agency officials estimate that more than 600 construction jobs will be created by the project. Kmart also qualifies for wage tax credits and other incentives under the Empire Zone program. New York State has committed $1 million from the Pipeline for Jobs program to help offset part of the cost of bringing water and sewer services to the Florida Business Park and another $150,000 in additional grants for the business park’s infrastructure.