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E-commerce giant Amazon and Philadelphia developer Bluewater have finally filed their first in a series of applications to build a large warehouse on property straddling the Naugatuck-Waterbury line.

The development was first announced in January 2022 with much fanfare – even Gov. Ned Lamont joined in praise for the large project. Not long after, Amazon announced a pullback from its breakneck pace of warehouse development and leasing amid record losses and customers’ pullback from online ordering as inflation began to bite, leaving the project in limbo even after the firm paid $4.8 million for some of the six parcels making up the Naugatuck-Waterbury site that fall.

According to a wetlands permit application filed with the city of Naugatuck, expected to be heard by Waterbury and Naugatuck officials tonight, the distribution center would rise on a 189-acre wooded hilltop next to Exit 29 on Connecticut Route 8. The 652,400-square-foot property will also have 59 loading docks, 483 trailer parking stalls a multi-story employee parking garage with 1,046 parking stalls on-site in total.

In addition to its wetlands permit, the project will need a special permit for its use.