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If Amazon picks Miami, where would HQ2 be? Those who know have been sworn to secrecy

The details of Miami’s bid to lure Amazon to build its second headquarters in South Florida have been scarce — and are about to get more so.

On Thursday, the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, which is spearheading the effort to bring the $5 billion Amazon HQ2 to South Florida, asked all participants to sign non-disclosure agreements, said sources close to the project. Amazon chief Jeff Bezos reportedly has insisted on secrecy as the short-listed cities move into the second round of requests for information.

Since Amazon announced a list of 20 finalist cities on Jan. 18, the speculation in the media has grown to March Madness proportions. The question buzzing through Miami: If Amazon picked our city, where would the headquarters be located?

Miami’s original bid reportedly included eight potential sites — five in Miami-Dade, two in Broward and one in Palm Beach — that would fulfill Amazon’s HQ2 requirements of an initial 500,000 square feet of existing office space, on-site access to public transport, proximity to airports and livable, lively communities.

Amazon’s latest request for information has whittled down the number of sites being considered, Beacon Council President Mike Finney told a group at a conference hosted by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce earlier this week.

The number of local sites now under consideration is “much lower than eight,” Finney said. He would not disclose the next response deadline but noted Amazon’s stated intention of naming a site by the end of this year, calling it “a fairly tight timeline.”

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http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article197875244.html