Mayor Joe St. John said Amazon Data Services has committed to invest at least $2,000,000,000 in the Sunbury Business and Technology Park, calling it the largest single investment in the city’s history.

The pledge, announced during the State of the City address, comes with major infrastructure requirements. St. John said the site is near Sunbury’s wastewater treatment plant and the AEP substation but that electricity and water availability must be solved before development can proceed. He said Amazon and other businesses will fully fund the infrastructure improvements required, “ensuring that growth pays for growth.”

Why it matters: the mayor framed the project as a generational investment that could diversify Sunbury’s tax base, produce high-quality jobs and reduce future tax pressure on residents. St. John said the city offered a tax exemption to attract the company; even with the exemption, he said Amazon will still contribute the equivalent of a $250,000,000 unabated project during the exemption period and larger tax receipts after the exemption ends.

Details the mayor provided include an estimated four- to six-year horizon before ground is broken, subject to utility-company timelines and required studies. He described the scale of the commitment by comparing typical campus valuations: “This is about $100,000,000 on 100 acres. We’re talking about a valuation of 20 times what this is,” he said during the presentation.

St. John repeatedly emphasized that the private investor will fund the needed upgrades to electricity and water service. He warned that the timeline is uncertain and that the city’s ability to host the project depends on answers from utilities and completion of environmental and engineering studies.

The mayor referenced earlier local coordination with state and federal partners and said the city competed with other states for the investment. He said the Sunbury Business and Technology Park is positioned for large-scale industrial uses and that the city has drafted a limited industrial zoning district to attract long-term investors.

The mayor did not present a signed agreement in the address, nor did he provide a construction schedule beyond the four- to six-year estimate. He also did not provide final tax-exemption terms or the precise infrastructure work that will be required; those items were described as subject to utility and developer planning.

Sources and attributions for specific details are drawn from Mayor Joe St. John’s address.