Amazon To Hamden? Mayor Leng Makes The Pitch

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

HAMDEN, CT – Mayor Curt Leng believes he knows the perfect town for Amazon to build a second corporate headquarters in North America – Hamden.

Amazon officials said Thursday that they would like to build a second campus, in addition to its Seattle campus, in an urban or suburban area that is well-connected to transit and a metro area with at least 1 million people.

Leng immediately sent out a social media message that Amazon should consider Hamden.

Asked about his post on Friday, Leng elaborated on the idea.

“I don’t think it’s far-fetched at all. In fact I think we can most certainly make a push for it. There are a couple potential parcels that come to mind and we’re beginning to explore them,” Leng said.

“I’m personally going to try to reach out to their real estate folks at Amazon just to let them know we would to talk to them for sure,” Leng said.

Business experts said the fact that Amazon is going through a public process and accepting bids suggest it's open to looking far and wide -- and willing to be swayed by generous state and municipal tax breaks whipped up by local governments.

Amazon also recently announced plans to construct a $225 million Amazon distribution center and warehouse in North Haven.

The facility will cover 855,000 square feet at 415 Washington Ave., a 168 acre property off Route 5 formerly used by Pratt & Whitney.

Amazon, which started as an online bookstore in 1994, plans to initially hire 1,800 employees for the North Haven facility but could expand to between 3,000 and 3,500 jobs in the future, he said.

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