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Amazon to purchase former Michigan fairground site

"Amazon" by Canonicalized is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Amazon is buying most of the former Michigan State Fairgrounds site. As Eli Newman reports… Detroit City Council approved the 16-million-dollar dale.

Amazon intends to build a nearly four-million square foot distribution center. City officials say the deal will generate 77-million dollars in tax revenue over the next decade. Arthur Jemison is Detroit’s Chief of Services and Infrastructure.

“1,200 jobs. $4 million a year in new tax revenues for the city,” said Jemison.

Councilmember Raquel Castaneda-Lopez voted against the deal. She says the city needs to create a standard for doing industrial development especially as it relates to environmental and public health protections.

“We would like to actually see a commitment to doing a health impact assessment which is different than just doing air quality monitoring,” says Castaneda-Lopez.

City officials say the Amazon facility is expected to be operational by Spring 2022.