Arlington addresses community concerns on Amazon’s Project Cascade
The City of Arlington is addressing community concerns about "Project Cascade," clarifying it is a warehouse/distribution facility and not a data center. Amazon confirmed the early planning stages for an operations facility. The city also provided estimated water and electrical usage for the proposed project, comparing it to a typical data center.
The City of Arlington, Washington, has responded to public inquiries regarding "Project Cascade" at 172nd Street and 67th Avenue in the Cascade Industrial Center, which spans both Arlington and Marysville city limits. Economic Development Manager for Amazon, Easton Craft, stated on May 19 that while terms are not finalized, Amazon is in early planning stages for a new operations facility to support customer delivery in the Central and North Puget Sound area. Craft emphasized Amazon's commitment to being a good neighbor and engaging with local officials and community members.
The city clarified that it is in discussions with Panattoni Development Company, Inc. for the project, which is proposed as a warehouse/distribution facility, not a data center. The site is zoned for warehouse and distribution uses, and no building permit application has been submitted yet. Preliminary estimates from Panattoni indicate the proposed facility would use approximately 44,000 gallons of domestic water per day and have an electrical demand of about 9.5 megawatts.
For comparison, the city highlighted that a 1,000,000-square-foot data center could require over 400,000 gallons of water daily and more than 300 megawatts of power. Mayor Don Vanney acknowledged community concerns about sustainable growth, water use, power demand, and whether the proposal was a data center, affirming the importance of accurate information. City staff are following established land use code requirements, reviewing aspects such as traffic, water and wastewater, stormwater compliance, site preparation, building design, and environmental impacts.