$100M Orange County Project Now in Jeopardy
Members of the Town Board of Hamptonburgh on Monday May 7th rejected the project by refusing to vote to begin the environmental review process on the proposal, which all but killed the project there.
MIDDLETOWN, NY—A rejection by the Town Board of Hamptonburgh of a mega-warehouse project now has Orange County political leaders and economic development officials scrambling to try and save more than 300 jobs and a $100-million project.
Medline, a health care distribution company currently based in Middletown, had hoped to build a 1.2-million-square-foot warehouse project in the Town of Hamptonburgh, NY. However, members of the Town Board of Hamptonburgh on Monday May 7th rejected the project by refusing to vote to begin the environmental review process on the proposal, which all but killed the project there.
Orange County Partnership President and CEO Maureen Halahan said that while disappointed with the action by the Hamptonburgh Town Board, the partnership is in discussions with Medline on two possible alternative sites in Orange County. Halahan did not state the potential locations currently being studied by Medline. The Orange County Partnership is the chief economic development agency for Orange County.
Tom Fallon, director of operations for Medline’s Wawayanda facility, said in a statement, “Medline has a proud and long-standing history as a member of the Orange County community. We live here, we work here, our children go to school in Hamptonburgh, Wawayanda and across the county. We are grateful to all our friends and neighbors who have supported our efforts to continue to grow and provide jobs and opportunities for our team members and their families.”
He continued, “We are disappointed that we won’t be expanding into Hamptonburgh at this time, but will continue to explore site options in the tri-state area that support our strong growth and provide our team members with even greater opportunities. Medline has a 52-year history of consecutive growth that has rewarded our employees and the communities in which we live and work, and we are optimistic about bringing that momentum to other communities in the future.”
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said of the rejection of the project by Hamptonburgh, “Medline’s a great company and we look forward to working to keep them in Orange County. Hamptonburgh may not have been the ideal location for the project, but we have great spaces in Chester, Wallkill, Newburgh and elsewhere.”
Halahan said the action or lack of action by the Town Board of Hamptonburgh, “was a loss on so many levels. Medline has over 300 jobs, the town of Hamptonburgh stood to gain tax ratables and the Valley Central School District, which is currently cutting jobs, stood to secure financial benefits that could have saved (some of those jobs) for the district.”
She said the Medline project is a high-priority project for the Orange County Partnership and noted that although the company is now considering two other sites in the county, the Hamptonburgh property was its first choice. While Halahan is hopeful that the firm will remain in Orange County, she said it was “a monumental turn down” for a “monumental project.”
Prior to Hamptonburgh’s rejection of the proposal, officials with Medline, which is headquartered in Northfield, IL, held a press briefing on March 3 at its offices in Middletown to detail its plan to vacate its 500,000-square-foot medical supplies distribution facility on Route 6 here and relocate to a 1.2-million-square-foot healthcare distribution and logistics facility to be built on almost 361 acres in the Town of Hamptonburgh on a site now called Hudson Valley Crossing II.