Hinckley Allen client Bluewater Property Group (“BPG”) is a dynamic investment, development and operating platform serving customers across the Northeastern United States, with a deliberate focus on identifying and capitalizing on unique investment opportunities and advisory situations within the US industrial marketplace. Among other such work, BPG identifies and controls sites, and permits and builds facilities for Amazon across the US. On November 19, 2021, Amazon closed on its purchase of approximately 195 acres of land in Johnston, Rhode Island, the site of its planned distribution facility.

The facility being built in Johnston, Rhode Island is known as Amazon’s AR (Robotics) Sortable – G+4.5 Large Gen 11 facility, measuring approximately 3.8 million total square feet over six levels, at a building height of 120 feet. This facility will be one of the largest warehouse buildings in the world.

Hinckley Allen’s talented team of Real Estate, Environmental and Corporate lawyers represented BPG in this engagement as land use, permitting and local transactional counsel, including:

• Securing all municipal approvals and permits from the Town of Johnston (the “Town”);
• Securing all State of Rhode Island (the “State”) permits, including RIDOT and RIDEM permits;
• Negotiating a 20-year Tax Stabilization Agreement with the Town for real and personal property taxes;
• Negotiating a Community Partnership Agreement with the Town and the State;
• Negotiating agreements with RIDOT to provide for a public/private partnership for construction of significant off-site road improvements;
• Negotiating agreements with the Providence Water Supply Board and Narragansett Bay Commission for water and sewer service; and
• Many other ancillary legal agreements and matters.

This Project presents a tremendous opportunity to the Town and State. The Tax Stabilization Agreement will provide an average annual tax payment of $7M to the Town, for property currently generating $60,000 a year in taxes. Amazon’s payments under the Tax Stabilization Agreement will represent 8% of the Town’s total tax levy. The Community Partnership Agreement provides another $24M in benefits to the Town and the State, including contributions to Johnston Public Schools, P-Tech career pathway programs, Rhode Island Municipal Education and Training Initiatives, Johnston youth sports, the Johnston Senior Center, Johnston Public Safety, and more. The Project will generate a minimum of 1,500 permanent jobs with substantial “day one” benefits, as well as over 1,500 construction jobs.

Real Estate partner John Bolton, who led the Hinckley Allen team, said:

Hinckley Allen will continue serving as local counsel to BPG/Amazon during the construction of the facility, which is expected to open in the spring of 2023.