It may not be the regional headquarters officials sought in 2017, but Amazon is coming to the former Merrimack Valley Works of Western Electric in North Andover.
Former North Andover Town Manager Andrew W. Maylor confirmed early Tuesday night that Amazon will open a distribution center at what is now Osgood Landing, near Haverhill’s border off Route 125.
“Its official @amazon will locate a distribution facility in @north_andover at the 1600 Osgood site,” tweeted Maylor, now the state comptroller.
Haverhill Mayor James J. Fiorentini predicted such an outcome when he organized communities about a year and a half ago. “It’s absolutely fabulous for all of us in the region,” the mayor told WHAV Tuesday night. He said he told everyone the original pitch was a long shot, but “it looks like it paid off.”
At Fiorentini’s urging, the coalition came under the umbrella of the regional Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, based in Haverhill. Commission Executive Director Karen Sawyer Conard took charge of the proposal when online retailer Amazon solicited ideas for its second national headquarters.
The mayor said he conceived of the regional plan because of railroad ties between the communities involved. The railroad, for example, could have helped sites in Haverhill—particularly the former Ornsteen shoe property in Bradford—take advantage of Amazon’s growth. “It still can,” Fiorentini said.
Also referring to the joint proposal, Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera replied to Maylor’s Tweet, saying “Glad we did this old thing.”
The original Merrimack Valley coalition included Haverhill, North Andover and Lawrence, but Methuen and Andover were later asked to join.
Back in the fall of 2017, Fiorentini said, “No matter what happens, we’re already generating a buzz in this area with real estate brokers calling WHAV, calling our office, calling Ozzy Properties, with people interested. We want to tell people about the $200 million in new investment in downtown Haverhill. We want to tell people about the best restaurant zone in Haverhill, north of the North End with 22 great restaurants. We want to tell people about the waterfront dining here in the City of Haverhill. We want to tell the people about that. This is our chance to sell Haverhill and our chance to sell the region.”