April 23, 2024
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Amazon drops plans for Crystal Lake distribution center, city officials say

By Aaron Dorman
The undeveloped land north of Congress Parkway and east of South Main Street in Crystal Lake photographed on Saturday, December 4, 2021, is the site of a potential Amazon warehouse

Undeveloped land north of Congress Parkway and east of South Main Street in Crystal Lake, shown here in December, was intended to be the site of a potential Amazon warehouse, but city officials confirmed on September 8, 2022, that Amazon no longer had plans to build a facility there. (Ryan Rayburn for Shaw Local/Ryan Rayburn for Shaw Local)

Amazon will not be moving forward with plans for a distribution center in Crystal Lake, city officials confirmed this week.

The company made a decision this summer to pause expansion plans for a number of “last-mile distribution centers” in the Midwest, including the one proposed in Crystal Lake, said the city’s community development director Katie Cowlin.

Attempts to reach Amazon were unsuccessful.

The decision was made before Amazon formally bought the property, so the property still is for sale, Cowlin said.

The Crystal Lake City Council had approved plans for the warehouse last December; the facility, which would have been located north of Congress Parkway and east of South Main Street, was expected to be over 180,000 square feet and could have created 500 new jobs.

An even larger facility in Huntley, near the intersection of Route 47 and Interstate 90, remains under construction and while the opening was delayed, Amazon officials told the Northwest Herald in July to expect a late 2022 or early 2023 opening.

The Huntley site, which is more than three times bigger than the Crystal Lake proposal, is estimated to create 1,000 new jobs.