Johnston Mayor Joseph M. Polisena was in the spotlight recently after working behind the scenes to orchestrate one of the biggest land development deals in recent state history, ushering in a $290 million, 3.8 million-square-foot distribution facility for Amazon.com Services LLC to a vacant, nearly 200-acre piece of private land off Route 6 close to Interstate 195.
For Polisena, who took office in 2007 as a former state senator, it was a crowning achievement, bringing financial stability to the town for decades to come, reaffirming his reputation for swiftly pushing projects through the bureaucratic process, following up on earlier achievements such as the Citizens Financial Group Inc. headquarters that was constructed in Johnston three years ago and the Market Basket store that opened this year.
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PBN: What’s the latest on the Amazon site, when will construction begin and when do you hope the building will be up and running?
POLISENA: They’re looking at starting at the end of October, through the first week of November. They plan on having the building done in 18 months. So, you’re looking at March or April of 2023. They have a very aggressive plan to get this built right away, which they’ve got no argument from me on. The sooner, the better. … It’s an exciting time.
Quite frankly, I’m not one to pat myself on the back, but I say, ‘My God, we have the largest company in the world coming to our community.’ To the naysayers – they are the first ones to go online and buy stuff from Amazon, anyway. In my opinion, I’ve given the town some strong financial security for the next 20 years.
PBN: Do you think that the Amazon development could help attract other developments to Johnston? And if so, what kinds of industries might be best suited to move there based on the kinds of real estate opportunities available in the town?
POLISENA: Absolutely it helps, there’s no doubt about it. Other companies will look to come in because it’s a business-friendly town. When you have people come into your community working, they use the stores, the restaurants, the gas stations, the shops. It all comes full circle. You’ve heard of the circle of life? This is the circle of business. … We have a lot of rural land. We’re starting to run out. But we still have land on our Plainfield Pike area, and we still have acreage left on Route 6.
PBN: What’s your personal leadership approach as a mayor when it comes to helping businesses establish themselves in your community, especially given the competition for those opportunities from other Rhode Island communities and perhaps even other states in some cases?
POLISENA: We don’t play games. I have a saying: “When you submit, we permit.” It goes through the process, absolutely. It’s vetted. When you submit your paperwork before zoning and planning or whatever board, we get it through. It doesn’t sit on someone’s desk. Things get done. It’s simple.
When people are going to invest in your community, time is money. You can’t have them waiting and waiting and waiting. I’m very hands-on. I will personally meet with the company, whether it’s a mom-and-pop store or a major corporation. I guarantee there will be no stalling on our part. If there’s any hold up, it is on their part.
PBN: Amazon often faces opposition for allegedly avoiding its fair share of taxes through deals such as the tax stabilization agreement it forged with Johnston, like when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., criticized the company for its later abandoned HQ2 proposal in New York. Is Amazon paying its fair share in Johnston?
POLISENA: I think it’s an excellent deal for the town and the state. We’re lucky we don’t have a delegation that they have in New York with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez because I believe she is a joke. Unfortunately, that community lost out on jobs and money. … Keep in mind the current owners of that vacant land were paying $60,000 a year in taxes. We’re going to get, and when you count everything in the tax stabilization package, $8.2 million per year.
We received a reimbursement of $1.5 million from the state (to offset tax revenue lost by not taxing Amazon at the standard town property tax rate). That’s an increase of 12,000% (from what is collected on the land now). The state is going to get paid back with interest. They’ll collect on the tolls. They’ll collect on $57 million in payroll tax. And I got them $5 million for the job creations program.
PBN: Do you now hope to lure a Costco to town and where would that go?
POLISENA: I contacted Costco when they were rejected from Cranston. I’ve been working with the developer to try to find him a site. I don’t want to say where because then the price will go way up. They need anywhere from 12 to 15 acres. It would be the icing on the cake for me, as I finish my career. I’ll be done by January 2023. I put term limits in, and it passed a few years ago. It’s a great company. It’s a great store. People I’ve [spoken] to love it. … The developer heard about the friendly business atmosphere we had in the town. We spoke and off he went and off I went looking for a spot.
Marc Larocque is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @LaRockPBN.
