Amazon fees paid to Loveland dwarf typical collections

LOVELAND — The city of Loveland has received a large spike in building-permit revenue as a result of the Amazon development at 4625 Byrd Drive in east Loveland.

City financial reports received through an open records request showed that Amazon has paid $15,934,877 so far on its 3.87 million-square-foot warehouse and distribution project. Payments were received each month this year beginning in February, with the largest amount — $14.8 million — received this month in taxes and fees.

The Amazon project fees are not included in the 2022 projected revenue budget for the city because the project was still in negotiations with the city at the time the 2022 budget was put in place, and the money was not anticipated in terms of what the city would have to spend this year.

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Revenue from that project dwarfs typical permit-fee collections from commercial developers. By comparison, the city received $4.5 million on 708 commercial (non-residential) projects in 2021. If residential — both single-family and multi-family — are included in the total, the city received $12.1 million in total fees paid in 2021 on 4,031 projects, according to a city document provided to BizWest.

Brian Waldes, chief financial officer for the city, did not return a call seeking further clarification of project financial impacts. He was quoted in published reports as saying revenue from the Amazon project will be discussed at a mid-year City Council budget session.

The Amazon project, identified initially in the city as Project Sugar, will be a five-story structure with offices and human activity on the first floor. The upper four floors will be used for storage and robotic retrieval of products. It will be built on 74.69 acres of the 151.8 acres that Amazon purchased for $9.4 million late last year.

While the projected employee count has been stated to be 1,000, the facility includes 1,801 parking spots, and the traffic study used to project roadway impacts used 937 daytime workers and 937 nighttime workers in its projections.