Toronto only Canadian city on Amazon’s short list for second headquarters
Janet McFarland and Jeff Gray, The Globe and Mail
Published January 18, 2018 | Updated 2 hours ago
Toronto is the only Canadian city to make the short list to host Amazon's second headquarters location, joining 19 U.S. cities also in the running.
Amazon released its short list Thursday morning, saying it has whittled down its options from 238 applications received from cities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. No cities in Mexico were chosen for the short list.
Amazon announced last year it is seeking to build a large second headquarters campus to expand beyond its crowded Seattle location, and asked communities across North America to submit bids. Amazon said it expects to create 50,000 jobs and invest over $5-billion (U.S.) in the city where it opens its HQ2 location, promising it will be "a full equal" to the Seattle headquarters.
Twelve Canadian communities submitted bids, including Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Halifax. Six communities in Ontario also bid, including a Toronto regional group, as well as Sault Ste. Marie, Windsor, Hamilton, Ottawa-Gatineau and Simcoe County north of Toronto.
Amazon's short list largely favours major cities, with Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington, DC, also making the cut.
Some anticipated favourites were also on the list, including Denver, Raleigh, Nashville and Austin, Texas. Newark was also included on the short list after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced his state's bid included up to $7-billion (U.S.) in tax incentives.
Holly Sullivan, Amazon's head of public policy, said Amazon learned about many new communities in the process that it will consider as locations for other type of future infrastructure investments.
"Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough – all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity," Ms. Sullivan said in a statement.
The regional Toronto bid did not include tax concessions, but offered several sites in downtown Toronto as possible locations, including a 100-acre "east harbour" region in central Toronto, just east of downtown. It would be close to the new Google Sidewalk Labs mixed-use neighbourhood also planned for the east side, known as Quayside. The bid also offers nine large locations in suburban areas surrounding the city, including a site in downtown Mississauga adjacent to the Square One Shopping Centre.
Toronto Mayor John Tory, who was among the first of the parade of civic leaders to jump at the chance to win Amazon's new headquarters, welcomed the news that Toronto had made the shortlist on Thursday.
"There is no other city region in North America that can boast the same talent, the same quality of life, the same vibrancy and economic strength," Mr. Tory said in a statement, while noting that work is being done – including investments in transit, housing and parks – to make the city better.
"Last year, I said I would put the Toronto Region up against any city in North America as the place for ambitious, forward-looking companies looking for a home," Mr. Tory said. "I'm glad that Amazon agrees that Toronto is worth considering and I look forward to working with Toronto Global and my fellow GTA mayors and regional chairs as we continue to go through the bidding process over the coming months."
"We are excited to have this opportunity and to be able to tell Toronto's unique story," Mr. Tory said in a statement Thursday.
Toronto's pitch stressed the large cluster of universities graduating students with technology training in the cluster of cities from Waterloo to Toronto, and highlighted an Ontario government plan to boost graduates in science and technology disciplines by 25 per cent over the next five years.
Former City of Toronto chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat, who helped shape Toronto's bid before stepping down at the end of September, tweeted Thursday that the city should be congratulated for succeeding despite offering no tax subsidies.
"Our proposal touted our quality of life, openness to immigration and current/forthcoming transit investments as the key reasons to come," she said.
"If 'winning' means offering subsidies, then winning isn't worth it. That's the chance we took [in] the 1st round [and] made it to the short list, showing that our key assets are a draw, in and of themselves. We've won already by playing by our rules, upholding our integrity."
Amazon said it evaluated each bid based on its original request for proposals, which emphasized land availability and location as its top priority in its selection.
The company plans to work with each candidate location in coming months to look more deeply at the proposals and request more information. Amazon expects to make its final decision later this year.
In addition to Amazon's plan to hire up to 50,000 new employees, the company said construction and ongoing operation of the new headquarters will create "tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment" in the community.
The 20 cities on the short list are:
Atlanta, GA
Austin, TX
Boston, MA
Chicago, IL
Columbus, OH
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Indianapolis, IN
Los Angeles, CA
Miami, FL
Montgomery County, MD
Nashville, TN
Newark, NJ
New York City, NY
Northern Virginia, VA
Philadelphia, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Raleigh, NC
Toronto, ON
Washington D.C.
Follow Janet McFarland and Jeff Gray on Twitter @JMcFarlandGlobe @jeffreybgray
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o...ons-second-headquarters/article37654374/
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