Amazon HQ2 thread

[C.]

Philly is my vote! Maybe Chicago in Second.

[subterranean]

Originally Posted by 10023

In cash..

Originally Posted by emathias

I don't think that's presently true, but even if it is, their offers nearly ALWAYS include a multi-year "signing bonus" paid out monthly and *significant* stock grants. A significant portion of their software engineering manager earn double that supposed salary cap.

I already addressed both of these. $160,000 per year is definitely the salary cap, I conceded that there are good sign-on bonuses, but the stock options are not that great. If you have evidence to the contrary, I’d love to see it.

[The ATX]

LOL. This thread is becoming boosterific.

[Antares41]

More fodder for discussion:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-hq2-cities-second-headquarters-these-cities-are-contenders/

You can take this list of 26 US cities (from cbsnews) and the mentioned criteria expressed by Amazon and easily cut this list in half.


Metro area State Population Percent with bachelor's degree
New York-Newark-Jersey City NY 20,153,634 38.40
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA 13,310,447 32.70
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL 9,512,999 36.00
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX 7,233,323 33.40
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC 6,131,977 49.30
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA 6,070,500 36.00
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell GA 5,789,700 37.00
Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA 4,794,447 46.00
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward CA 4,679,166 47.20
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN 3,551,036 40.30
San Diego-Carlsbad CA 3,317,749 37.20
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood CO 2,853,077 41.80
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson MD 2,798,886 38.60
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia NC 2,474,314 33.50
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro OR 2,424,955 37.90
Pittsburgh PA 2,342,299 33.00
Kansas City MO 2,104,509 35.80
Austin-Round Rock TX 2,056,405 42.60
Columbus OH 2,041,520 35.10
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA 1,978,816 48.70
Nashville-Davidson TN 1,865,298 33.60
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis WI 1,572,482 33.90
Raleigh NC 1,302,946 44.40
Richmond VA 1,281,708 35.20
Hartford-West Hartford CT 1,206,836 38.30
Rochester NY 1,078,879 37.30

[dc_denizen]

Philly would objectively be the best choice.

Great cost of living compared to Boston/NYC/DC, great schools in the close in suburbs (main line), Penn+Swarthmore+many other universities, easy trip to NYC and DC on acela/amtrak, underutilized SEPTA subway, developable land, politically meaningful (would shore up the city's finances and status quite well), close to the beach and mountains, gentrifying neighborhoods everywhere, etc etc.

[Parkway]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

Philly would objectively be the best choice.

Great cost of living compared to Boston/NYC/DC, great schools in the close in suburbs (main line), Penn+Swarthmore+many other universities, easy trip to NYC and DC on acela/amtrak, underutilized SEPTA subway, developable land, politically meaningful (would shore up the city's finances and status quite well), close to the beach and mountains, gentrifying neighborhoods everywhere, etc etc.

Philly has a lot going for it but we have one big problem, I'm not sure "business friendly" has ever been used to describe our political climate.

[JManc]

Philly inflicted Comcast on the rest of us, booed Santa Claus and signed Michael Vick...no AMZN for them.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by JManc

Philly inflicted Comcast on the rest of us, booed Santa Claus and signed Michael Vick...no AMZN for them.

Booed Santa Claus in the 1960s.... get. the. hell. over. it... LOL!

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Parkway

Philly has a lot going for it but we have one big problem, I'm not sure "business friendly" has ever been used to describe our political climate.

Always time to change for the future. Plus, Schuylkill Yards and 30th Street District are both Keystone Opportunity Zones... that means SEVERE tax breaks for any company that moves into these Zones.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by CIA

Tampa is weak on the mass transit front, but I wouldn't dismiss Tampa - St. Pete completely. It has some things going for it - a lower cost of living than the northeast, a decent international airport, and access to graduates throughout the Florida schools. With the Market Watch map, it has much more competitive chance than say Bridgeport, CT, in my opinion, of course.

NYC and DC are out of the running as per Amazon's RFP which specifies the candidate cities need good flight connections to these two.

Raleigh, Atlanta, Dallas all make sense. I'd love to see it go to Detroit. Philly and Chicago are among the top candidates too, IMO.

[Parkway]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Always time to change for the future. Plus, Schuylkill Yards and 30th Street District are both Keystone Opportunity Zones... that means SEVERE tax breaks for any company that moves into these Zones.

Agreed! I was just pointing out that if anything is going to sink us it will be that.

[ocman]

If it's not a satellite as Amazon states, having a location east of the Mississippi may not be any incentive to Amazon. Texas might make sense, what with Whole Foods and it's headquarters in Austin. There's already a relationship there. Austin is already making a name for itself as a tech hub, so there's that. Red state/blue state whatever. People overestimate partisan political leanings in business decisions. Also, other cities will have a hard time keeping up with Texas when it comes to ridiculous tax breaks/incentives.

[dc_denizen]

Originally Posted by Parkway

Philly has a lot going for it but we have one big problem, I'm not sure "business friendly" has ever been used to describe our political climate.

http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2015/05/...de8024d2ee6593a594b2074f665-s900-c85.jpg

[summersm343]

Bezos is pretty liberal, and has made it known. You think he wants to build HQ2 in the heart of Conservative country? I think that rules out Texas.

Also, they are looking to build an HQ2 away from the high costs of Seattle. That pretty much rules out anywhere that costs just as much, or more than Seattle. That pretty much rules out Bay Area, NYC, Boston and DC.

Also, I think the recent hurricanes in Houston and the one about to hit Miami would be enough to deter any CEO of a major corporation away from plunking down $3 Billion in investments in these places. Therefore, Florida is likely out.

With that, what are we left with that offers everything Amazon is looking for? I think Chicago, Atlanta and Philadelphia are the top 3 contenders.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2015/05/12/ap8505140296_custom-75f2834230418de8024d2ee6593a594b2074f665-s900-c85.jpg

Cough, cough... 1981 called and wants it's image back. There are plenty of other cities which had far worse and more damaging Civil Rights incidents since then, including LA, Detroit, St. Louis, Baltimore, NYC, etc. etc.

Modern day Philadelphia is one of the most liberal, diverse, and accepting places in the country.

[Kngkyle]

It's going to be a tight race between Chicago and Philadelphia. My gut tells me Philadelphia will win due to a better fiscal and political climate compared to Illinois/Chicago.

BUT for Chicago, the Old Main Post Office has got to be the best option. It's an existing 2.5m sqft building with 250k sqft floor plates and is about a year into a total retrofit. It literally has a highway and subway (to O'Hare) running through it and is across the street from Union Station. There is ample room on surrounding lots that are already zoned for 10m+ sqft of office. It's across the river from a 6,700 unit residential development currently under construction.

It's also a cool as shit building.

[C.]

Originally Posted by lio45

NYC and DC are out of the running as per Amazon's RFP which specifies the candidate cities need good flight connections to these two.

GOOD EYE! I missed that in the RFP. It certainty does imply NYC and DC are not being considered...

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by CIA

GOOD EYE! I missed that in the RFP. It certainty does imply NYC and DC are not being considered...

Yes, many people conveniently missed that

NYC, DC, Bay Area and Seattle are not being considered.

[M II A II R II K]

If it goes in the heartland then Oklahoma City would be an ideal pick.

[Citylover94]

Off hand there are several sites in the Boston area that are potential options including the 100+ acre Suffolk Downs site which is slated to be redeveloped as a high density mixed use development, Beacon Yards redevelopment in Allston another high density mixed use planned development of about 50 acres, Volpe Center (14 acres) in Cambridge which is going to be redeveloped over the next few years, and Widdett Circle which is a potential site although less ideal and less easily developed than the others. There may be some other options such as the seaport district and maybe some areas just outside of the city, but these seem to be the most ideal. These sites combined with the transit accessibility of the metro area and these areas in particular, proximity to the airport and highways seems to me to make a strong case for Boston above and beyond the already large presence of Amazon and very active tech economy in the area.

The main stumbling block I see is that potential that the COL of the area could be a strike against it as well as the potential bumps in the road of getting MIT or Harvard on board for the Volpe development and Beacon Yards development since they are both the owner/developer for those areas.