PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[GtownFriend]

Originally Posted by Mr Saturn64

Does a similar effect ever happen in Philly? I think it would be cool to see the sun set directly over Market.

There would have to be a day when the sun sets right at the end of Market,
but it will be a different day that it rises over Market in the east.
This article https://hiddencityphila.org/2015/08/courtyard-compass-reveals-a-city-off-axis/talks about the actual alignment of the grid.
Since Market runs slightly north of true west, the day should be sometime after Spring Equinox. Perhaps in April? Similarly it runs slightly south of true east, so the sunrise would be somewhat before the equinox.
There would be a second set of alignments in the fall. Inverted from the Spring.

[mja]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

If the decision has been made, why don't they just announce it? Why the wait?

The roll-out of an announcement of this size and import is going to carefully planned. They're not just going to do a news dump on a Friday evening.

[El Duderino]

Originally Posted by mja

The roll-out of an announcement of this size and import is going to carefully planned. They're not just going to do a news dump on a Friday evening.

I’d guess that the majority of the “delay” is talking with the non-winners to do any damage control/answer questions so that they don’t have 19 angry major metro areas. Amazon will still have a presence in basically all of these areas, so I’m guessing they’d rather not alienate stakeholders for future discussions around distribution centers/other satellite offices/etc.

...or else they’re just working on a dope jet pack so Jeff can fly over the winning city and start dropping free Prime membership vouchers everywhere.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by sayitaintso

All they've told me is the decision has been made and they will let me know soon. Its no secret that Amazon is a burn out factory even for the well compensated. My sources are both disgruntled and will be leaving but would like to get in one last shot at Jeff and steal his glory. Also because I have been hounding them mercilessly they are going to return the favor by dribbling out bits and pieces.

Of course it has. They were 95% of the way there 18 months ago. Well before reviewing any RFP responses.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by El Duderino

...or else they’re just working on a dope jet pack so Jeff can fly over the winning city and start dropping free Prime membership vouchers everywhere.

You, sir, are a PR Genius.

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by mja

The roll-out of an announcement of this size and import is going to carefully planned. They're not just going to do a news dump on a Friday evening.

ok but it shouldn't take months to plan.

[mja]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

ok but it shouldn't take months to plan.

Having been involved in the decision-making and planning process for "big" announcements for an organization a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the size of Amazon, there's all sorts of reasons it would take months, e.g. ongoing negotiations behind the behind the scenes, matters of timing, message-massaging & vetting, crossing legal t's & dotting governmental i's, etc. ad infinitum.

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by mja

Having been involved in the decision-making and planning process for "big" announcements for an organization a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the size of Amazon, there's all sorts of reasons it would take months, e.g. ongoing negotiations behind the behind the scenes, matters of timing, message-massaging & vetting, crossing legal t's & dotting governmental i's, etc. ad infinitum.

I agree with all of this. Though considering the weight of this news you would think they would have tried to do as much of this work as possible prior to making a decision. The longer you wait on something like this, the more likely it is that your big announcement is leaked as is apparently happening. No offense to sayitaintso, but he's hardly a trusted source of news to the general public, but if he can get his hands on info how long until an actual reporter does? And if people really want to piss off bezos, a front page story in the New York Times, would probably be more effective than a leak onto a little known forum for skyscraper fanatics.

[iheartphilly]

^^^
At a minimum, I think coordination with local, State, Congressional representation is a must since the public incentive package is involved when the decision goes public. Might even have a ceremonial ribbon cutting to mark future site of HQ2. So I would give it a few months or until the start of Fall for the announcement to be made. Just my hunch.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

^^^
At a minimum, I think coordination with local, State, Congressional representation is a must since the public incentive package is involved when the decision goes public. Might even have a ceremonial ribbon cutting to mark future site of HQ2. So I would give it a few months or until the start of Fall for the announcement to be made. Just my hunch.

Why couldn't something like this take place------"Today Amazon is pleased to announce it's intend to locate it's HQ2 in "ABC". We along with the State and local leaders have been hard at work over the several months and it is our sincere hope that the final negotiations will be complete and construction plans can be released in the very near future". That would say a lot, but at the same time be committing to nothing, at least from Amazon's end.


I believe that would put intense pressure on the 'State and local leaders' to make the deal happen, even it that might mean selling what is left of their souls to the devil. Plus it would also give some of the 'losers' a sense of what they might need to do if they wanted to get back in the game. There is no reason to think that Amazon wouldn't play two or more cities off against each other. Apparently they have gotten extremely good at doing that with setting up their distribution centers.


Of course I know nothing, and stupid me---I still hold a pitch of hope that Amazon will take a more wholistic and civic minded approach toward this decision, and not one that depends on the whole exercise being a race to the bottom.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by City Wide

Why couldn't something like this take place------"Today Amazon is pleased to announce it's intend to locate it's HQ2 in "ABC". We along with the State and local leaders have been hard at work over the several months and it is our sincere hope that the final negotiations will be complete and construction plans can be released in the very near future". That would say a lot, but at the same time be committing to nothing, at least from Amazon's end.


I believe that would put intense pressure on the 'State and local leaders' to make the deal happen, even it that might mean selling what is left of their souls to the devil. Plus it would also give some of the 'losers' a sense of what they might need to do if they wanted to get back in the game. There is no reason to think that Amazon wouldn't play two or more cities off against each other. Apparently they have gotten extremely good at doing that with setting up their distribution centers.


Of course I know nothing, and stupid me---I still hold a pitch of hope that Amazon will take a more wholistic and civic minded approach toward this decision, and not one that depends on the whole exercise being a race to the bottom.

Playing "two or more cities off against each other" is exactly why there's not going to be an announcement quite yet. They don't want the messiness of such negotiations to unnecessarily stir up ill will amongst the public, their customers.

[volguus zildrohar]

Originally Posted by Mr Saturn64

Off topic, but I wanted to ask. In New York today, there will be the "Manhattanhenge" effect, where the sunrise and sunset are directly aligned with the streets of Manhattan. Does a similar effect ever happen in Philly? I think it would be cool to see the sun set directly over Market.

Yes. Two sunsets and two sunrises, one each in fall and spring. Any city with a grid will more or less have a "Henge" but Manhattan is well situated for it and of course it's Manhattan. Phillyhenge is a bit less well documented but I've covered it once or twice.

[sayitaintso]

Originally Posted by allovertown

I agree with all of this. Though considering the weight of this news you would think they would have tried to do as much of this work as possible prior to making a decision. The longer you wait on something like this, the more likely it is that your big announcement is leaked as is apparently happening. No offense to sayitaintso, but he's hardly a trusted source of news to the general public, but if he can get his hands on info how long until an actual reporter does? And if people really want to piss off bezos, a front page story in the New York Times, would probably be more effective than a leak onto a little known forum for skyscraper fanatics.

I haven't been as active as I used to be but I've had my share of scoops. In anycase how do you know that i'm not Tom Brokaw

I won't claim to have any knowledge of the inner workings, just that its going to personally exorcise some demons and it'll make them feel a sense of vindication. Blowing off steam is really what it comes down to.

BTW its not PST but i think we all knew that already anyway.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by allovertown

I agree with all of this. Though considering the weight of this news you would think they would have tried to do as much of this work as possible prior to making a decision. The longer you wait on something like this, the more likely it is that your big announcement is leaked as is apparently happening. No offense to sayitaintso, but he's hardly a trusted source of news to the general public, but if he can get his hands on info how long until an actual reporter does? And if people really want to piss off bezos, a front page story in the New York Times, would probably be more effective than a leak onto a little known forum for skyscraper fanatics.

People on these forums break news like this all of the time.

The fact is, we're more passionate about this stuff then most seasoned reporters (who tend to focus on different issues). Further, many traditional news outlets have cut writers that focus on these topics.

I'd be surprised if it was NOT broken first in a place just like this, as opposed to at a traditional news outlet.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by sayitaintso

I haven't been as active as I used to be but I've had my share of scoops. In anycase how do you know that i'm not Tom Brokaw

I won't claim to have any knowledge of the inner workings, just that its going to personally exorcise some demons and it'll make them feel a sense of vindication. Blowing off steam is really what it comes down to.

BTW its not PST but i think we all knew that already anyway.

I was hoping your "insider" connections were with the city. I guess if they're Amazonians, they could still tell us this is going elsewhere.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by sayitaintso

BTW its not PST but i think we all knew that already anyway.

PST? Excuse my density, but I don't know where that is. If I look up airport codes it was a former airport in Cuba.

[sayitaintso]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

PST? Excuse my density, but I don't know where that is. If I look up airport codes it was a former airport in Cuba.

Pacific Standard Time

[Knight Hospitaller]

Even "EST" won't tell us much, assuming it's not Mountain (unlikely) or Central time.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

Playing "two or more cities off against each other" is exactly why there's not going to be an announcement quite yet. They don't want the messiness of such negotiations to unnecessarily stir up ill will amongst the public, their customers.

not that this discussion makes any difference, but I completely disagree. The cat is out of the bag regarding the fact that in all likely hood the so called winner of this HQ2 sweepstakes is going to be taking billions of public dollars and basically handing them over to the richest man in the country. The issue isn't whether its going to happen or not, its only a matter of the size of the bribe.

This contest has been incredibly well publicized and without too much descent. I'm sure there will be some pushback in the chosen city, probably not much more then a few old blowhards like myself 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 into the wind.


(just for the record, I'm sure the bribe will be nuanced and hopefully include certain hallmarks that have to be meant, but the bottom line is the rich are going to get richer, and it will be the working class who don't have tax breaks that will pay. And by the way, I hope Amazon comes to W. Philly, but I hope its not primarily because of the bribe)

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by City Wide

I hope Amazon comes to W. Philly, but I hope its not primarily because of the bribe)

If the most beautiful woman in the land
also comes with a dowry, why not? ;-)