PROVIDENCE – Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien and Central Falls Mayor James A. Diossa announced that the two communities will respond to Rhode Island’s request for input for possible locations to pitch to Amazon.com Inc. for the company’s much coveted second North American headquarters.
The two mayors posit that the Pawtucket Central Falls Train Station District, which is currently slated to have a commuter rail station by 2020, is an ideal location to house the tech behemoth’s plan to host 50,000 workers in a proposed 8 million square footage of space.
“Our two cities are always working together to position our communities for the future,” said Grebien. “This is where innovation began with the Industrial Revolution. We stand together, ready to hit the ground running to welcome another industry game-changer, Amazon, and tens of thousands of jobs to our Train Station District.”
According to a joint press release from the two cities, the site offers more than “50 acres of available development, with a grand total of 160 acres, 2 million square fee of unique, historic mill buildings, and the potential to more than double that square footage with new construction.”
The two municipalities said they will continue to work with the Pawtucket Foundation, the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce and the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council on the proposal.
“We have assembled a cross-organizational team which is working with the Partnership for Rhode Island and the business community in response to Amazon’s RFP,” said Commerce Secretary Stfan Pryor in a statement. “We have solicited information from every city and town in Rhode Island regarding possible sites that meet Amazon’s requirements. We look forward to reviewing the ideas and information compiled by Pawtucket and Central Falls, as well as others, as we showcase sites available within our state that would be ideal locations for Amazon’s HQ2.”
Pryor added that, “Our goal is to submit the strongest possible unified proposal for Rhode Island.”
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
