Amazon Makes 2 Big Investments In MA, Creating 3,500 More Jobs

Amazon isn't bringing its second headquarters to Massachusetts, but the Bay State is reaping some nice consolation prizes. This week saw two big steps forward in the relationship between the state and the Seattle-based tech and commerce giant.

A new distribution center in North Andover and a 17-story new office tower in Boston's Seaport district will bring some 3,500 jobs to the state. That's in addition to the roughly 4,500 workers Amazon currently employs between its Cambridge tech hub, a customer fulfillment center in Fall River and a robotics lab in North Reading, Mike Touloumtzis, the Boston site leader for Amazon, told State House News Service.

Amazon's HQ2, which eventually landed in Virginia, is expected to house 50,000 highly paid workers.

North Andover

Amazon is building a warehouse that could employ as many as 1,500 people at the former Osgood Landing site in North Andover, state Comptroller and former North Andover Town Manager Andrew Maylor confirmed in a post on Twitter Tuesday night. Speculation about who would occupy the site had been rampant after Hillwood Inc. met with North Andover selectmen last month about the possibility of developing the Osgood Landing site for an undisclosed partner.

The new distribution facility is expected to employ workers starting at $15 per hour.

Read more about the North Andover location and what it means for the region.

Reporting and writing from Dave Copeland of North Andover Patch was used.

Boston

Amazon plans on hiring 2,000 more employees for its new office tower in the Seaport, a 17-story, 525 square-foot project that broke ground Tuesday and is slated to finish in 2021.

The office tower, which will have a new address of 111 Harbor Way, had been planned since before Amazon passed on Boston for HQ2.

"The project benefits everyone in the city of Boston," Mayor Marty Walsh said.

The mayor cited tax revenue that will help pay for job training, affordable housing and universal kindergarten, and the investments Amazon plans to continue making in high school and after-school computer science programs.

Walsh specifically said that the project will generate $4.4 million in new money for the city for affordable housing and $875,000 for job training that will be linked to the tech industry.

WS Development Senior Vice President Yanni Tsipis confirmed that Amazon has an option for a second, larger office tower on an adjacent site, but he declined to comment on how long Amazon has to exercise that option.

Tsipis said the development will also include a new one-acre park, called Harbor Square Park, and a public Harbor Way to "stitch together the neighborhood" with a promenade connecting Summer Street to the waterfront.

Reporting and writing by Matt Murphy of State House News Service was used.