Gaithersburg Mayor Responds to Reports of Proposal for Amazon Distribution Center
The City of Gaithersburg received a $92 million proposal to build an Amazon distribution center at the location of the former Leidos site, located in the area of 355 Montgomery Village Avenue. The proposal would create 850 total jobs.
Bethesda Beat broke the news Monday evening. Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman confirmed to MyMCMedia “an application has been filed for a new sketch plan,” emphasizing he couldn’t say much else about the proposal because the Gaitherburg City Council and the Gaithersburg Planning Commission will discuss the plan at a public hearing in the future.
Ashman said Matan Companies in Frederick—which owns the 44 acre property located next to a FedEx distribution site and across from Sam’s Club—approached the City of Gaithersburg about a year ago with a sketch plan calling for two main building that would be for offices and retail services.
“They have decided to resubmit a sketch plan that would — according to [Bethesda Beat’s] story — would fit what Amazon is looking for and that will be coming before us,” Ashman said.
Former longtime Gaithersburg Mayor and current president of the Montgomery County Council Sidney Katz, responded to the story on social media, tweeting, “This is a big deal.”
This is big deal. Amazon wants to invest $92 million for a distribution center in Gaithersburg. 👀⬇ https://t.co/Dl4WoKLaBm
— Sidney Katz (@MC_Council_Katz) May 11, 2020
I saw in the previous article that Gaithersburg was hoping to hold out for something higher paying and denser, like the old IBM campus was.
I say if they want that kind of business, they need to start leaning on Montgomery County to update the roads. The county opposes all new road projects and blocks most new business attempts. Within 2 miles of that proposed Amazon site you can be driving on lane-and-a-half unmarked county roads that haven’t been improved in decades other than paving them. You aren’t getting another IBM into a county with these kinds of traffic problems and a county government that opposes infrastructure improvements.
Gaithersburg should take this and be happy with it until we can replace the current county government officials with people who are not morons.