Town officials in upstate Lockport, NY have reason to celebrate this week, as Yahoo sought and was granted permission to expand its growing facility and call center on a city campus there.
According to a report in The Buffalo News, Yahoo will increase its planned building size by 19,000 square feet, 12,000 of which will be dedicated to the call center. The company also sought and got permission to add 190 more parking spaces. That all translates into more jobs for more people.
The News reports that Yahoo bought 20 more acres of town land, expanding its presence there to 63 acres. Construction site director Paul Bonaro said building is moving along, with the first half of the site expected to be completed by Q4 2014. Right now, 100 yahoo employees are working in temporary quarters in nearby Amherst. Yahoo has promised to create115 more jobs in Lockport when all is said and done.
“Since Yahoo turns over its computer equipment every few years, the Town of Lockport Industrial Development Agency estimated in December that Yahoo would save $200 million in sales taxes over the next two decades,” The Buffalo News reported. That’s in addition to the “estimated $45 million in savings on property taxes and electricity costs, the latter thanks to a discount provided by the New York Power Authority.”
The Lockport Planning Board authorized an increase in the total size of the three new “pods” that Yahoo is building, from 242,000 square feet to 271,000 square feet. The call center’s height was also increased to 55 feet. The company previously received a town variance allowing it to build higher than 50 feet; Yahoo will be allowed to construct as high as 75 feet in the industrial park, the News said.
Edited by Blaise McNamee