Amazon plans ninth warehouse on Long Island for 'last-mile' deliveries to consumers 

Amazon is moving forward with a warehouse project on Route 110 in Melville three years after its plans were first disclosed, according to documents and officials.

The online retailer has submitted a revised proposal to the Town of Huntington for renovations to two buildings south of the Long Island Expressway that it first rented in 2021. The buildings are located at 1770 Walt Whitman Rd. and 540 Broad Hollow Rd.

The site has been used for warehousing since 1974, most recently by Rubie’s Costume Co. until it moved its distribution operation to Wisconsin in 2019. The Beige family, now minority owners of Rubie’s, leased the two buildings on the 21-acre parcel to Amazon about two years later. 

The retailer’s new proposal calls for a 213,448-square-foot warehouse to make deliveries the "last mile" to the customer's doorstep. There will be a larger outdoor canopy for the loading of delivery vans.

In addition, overnight parking for nearly 180 vans will be provided inside the adjacent building, a feature absent from many Amazon distribution hubs.

"It is the intention of [Amazon] to proceed with its delivery hub, substantially consistent with the approved site plan, with some specific modifications and site enhancements," Amazon attorney Michael L. McCarthy wrote in a May 3 letter to the town’s planning department. The site plan was approved on Aug. 3, 2021, and building permits have been issued.

Apparently responding to the concerns of nearby homeowners, Amazon has eliminated an entrance to the warehouse from Walt Whitman Road. Employees will now enter the property from Baylis Road while tractor trailer trucks and delivery vans will use entrances and exits off Route 110, McCarthy said, adding the trucks will primarily arrive and depart "during the night hours."

He said, "A berm and dense evergreen plantings will be installed on the westerly side of the property, along Walt Whitman Road, to act as a natural buffer and visual attenuation to the premises."

However, Amazon spokesman Branden Baribeau cautioned that the proposal could be amended again.

"How these operations will look and function remains an ongoing process for which we regularly update local officials on and seek their feedback," he told Newsday this week. "While planning work is ongoing and we do occasionally submit preliminary paperwork, no plans regarding [the site] have been finalized."

Still, Baribeau confirmed that Amazon has "long maintained that we intend to use the properties located on Walt Whitman Road and Broad Hollow Road to support our operations on Long Island in the future."

The Route 110 warehouse would join eight others that Amazon has on Long Island. They are in Bethpage, Carle Place, Holbrook, Shirley, Syosset, Westhampton Beach, Woodmere and at 90 Ruland Rd. in Melville.

Each warehouse employs between 100 and 150 package handlers, with their pay starting at more than $19 per hour. Dozens of delivery personnel are employed by independent businesses that own the vans and are based at the warehouses.

Huntington Town officials said this week that they were reviewing Amazon’s latest plan for the Route 110 warehouse.

"This is one more example that sends the message that Huntington is open for business and that we want to attract new businesses to the town," Supervisor Ed Smyth said in an interview. "Amazon will continue to serve Long Island [in the future] and we want them to do so from a base in Huntington."

He also said he was "pleased" that Amazon responded "to the very legitimate concerns of residents about increased traffic on Walt Whitman Road."

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.