Amazon plant in Elkhart remains idle; timeline for opening unclear
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Plans originally called for Amazon to open an 800,000-square-foot warehouse in Elkhart last May, but the building remains idle with no clear idea on when operations will begin.
The president of MWPVL International Inc., a Canadian consulting firm focusing on retail distribution, told our partners at Fox Michiana that the fallout from the pandemic could be to blame.
Marc Wulfraat said the online retail giant built a number of facilities during the pandemic as demand for online shopping grew, but some facilities remain unopened as demand has fallen and people returned to in-store shopping.
Wulfraat said Amazon saves about $40 million in payroll expenses by keeping the Elkhart building closed, but that also has an effect on the local tax base.
“There’s obviously a lot of tax income at stake for the city that they don’t enjoy when the building, you’re sitting idle, they collect their property tax, but all of the payroll taxes and everything else that go to the state are lost during this time period,” Wulfraat said.
Wulfraat said he expects Amazon to begin opening the delayed buildings over the next two years after the company releases its fourth quarter results this spring.
City officials, meanwhile, told Fox Michiana there are no updates on the timeline for opening the Elkhart warehouse.