Amazon HQ2 bid - Page 96

wonshirim · #**1901** Posted **Oct 15, 2018, 6:23 PM**

I'm watching the livecast from the City Council's website. These "Redlight the Gulch" folks are ridiculous. Are they just grandstanding or are they really this unreasonable? Do some people really hate growth and prosperity? If a major employer is coming to your town, it means jobs are coming your way too. Perhaps someone should tell these folks it is possible to make a living by working instead of living off welfare. These people are just blocking progress with emotional appeal.

Pemgin · #**1902** Posted **Oct 15, 2018, 6:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wonshirim

I'm watching the livecast from the City Council's website. These "Redlight the Gulch" folks are ridiculous. Are they just grandstanding or are they really this unreasonable? Do some people really hate growth and prosperity? If a major employer is coming to your town, it means jobs are coming your way too. Perhaps someone should tell these folks it is possible to make a living by working instead of living off welfare. These people are just blocking progress with emotional appeal.

Hopefully no one who matters takes them seriously.

Street Advocate · #**1903** Posted **Oct 15, 2018, 7:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wonshirim

I'm watching the livecast from the City Council's website. These "Redlight the Gulch" folks are ridiculous. Are they just grandstanding or are they really this unreasonable? Do some people really hate growth and prosperity? If a major employer is coming to your town, it means jobs are coming your way too. Perhaps someone should tell these folks it is possible to make a living by working instead of living off welfare. These people are just blocking progress with emotional appeal.

They probably wouldn't exist if our city government engaged its constituents about this deal in the first place and didn't shut them out of a closed door meeting on why to greenlight the gulch.

Sura · #**1904** Posted **Oct 15, 2018, 7:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Street Advocate

They probably wouldn't exist if our city government engaged its constituents about this deal in the first place and didn't shut them out of a closed door meeting on why to greenlight the gulch.

They'd exist no matter what.

SteveD · #**1905** Posted **Oct 19, 2018, 12:34 PM**

Large write-up in the New York Times today hints strongly at Northern Virginia:

"Among Amazon HQ2 Watchers, Northern Virginia Checks the Most Boxes" by Karen Weise.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/business/amazon-hq2-virginia-finalists.html

edited to add: Atlanta does get a brief mention, along with Chicago and Austin, as the other locations considered to be top contenders.

SIGSEGV · #**1906** Posted **Oct 19, 2018, 4:41 PM**

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/19/amazon-executives-revisit-hq2-shortlist-cities.html

Amazon appears to be inching toward a decision on the location of its second headquarters. Over the past couple of months, executives have revisited a handful of cities on its shortlist, including Newark, NJ, New York City and Chicago, according to the Wall Street Journal.
---

Does anybody here know if Atlanta has had a similar followup visit?

skyscraperpage17 · #**1907** Posted **Oct 19, 2018, 5:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/19/amazon-executives-revisit-hq2-shortlist-cities.html

Amazon appears to be inching toward a decision on the location of its second headquarters. Over the past couple of months, executives have revisited a handful of cities on its shortlist, including Newark, NJ, New York City and Chicago, according to the Wall Street Journal.
---

Does anybody here know if Atlanta has had a similar followup visit?

No idea, which is a little concerning

ThrashATL · #**1908** Posted **Oct 19, 2018, 6:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sura

They'd exist no matter what.

skyscraperpage17 · #**1909** Posted **Oct 19, 2018, 9:14 PM**

As far as the supposed lease at the AT&T building in Midtown and the Amazon-specific clause in The Gulch incentive package, there's this to consider (as I stated before)...

https://www.pymnts.com/amazon/2018/ecommerce-headquarters-hq2-tech-jobs-retail/

"At the same time, however, those familiar with Amazon’s process noted that the retailer hasn’t made a deal, but that they might make near-final deals with multiple locations prior to announcing the final selection. That could enable the retailer to keep its choice unknown ahead of an announced decision."

OTPandProud1974 · #**1910** Posted **Oct 21, 2018, 2:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/19/amazon-executives-revisit-hq2-shortlist-cities.html

Amazon appears to be inching toward a decision on the location of its second headquarters. Over the past couple of months, executives have revisited a handful of cities on its shortlist, including Newark, NJ, New York City and Chicago, according to the Wall Street Journal.
---

Does anybody here know if Atlanta has had a similar followup visit?

Source within econ development says they're in constant contact with AMZ over other pending projects outside of HQ2, but specific to that project, no word since the visit earlier this year.

I'm losing hope.

ATLMidcity · #**1911** Posted **Oct 21, 2018, 4:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

No idea, which is a little concerning

If you already knew you wanted a Bentley, why would you have to keep going back to the dealer asking for another ride? You wouldn't, but you might keep looking at a corvette or caddy if you had reservations about their suitability and longevity.

I'm just sayin'

skyscraperpage17 · #**1912** Posted **Oct 21, 2018, 4:47 PM**

Could be completely unrelated, but it definitely raises eyebrows...

Report: D.C. United in talks with Amazon, others for jersey sponsorship

https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/n...ted-in-talks-with-amazon-others-for.html

scania · #**1913** Posted **Oct 21, 2018, 4:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

Could be completely unrelated, but it definitely raises eyebrows...

Report: D.C. United in talks with Amazon, others for jersey sponsorship

https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/n...ted-in-talks-with-amazon-others-for.html

That’s probably unrelated. But for kicks and giggles....connect the dots.

skyscraperpage17 · #**1914** Posted **Oct 21, 2018, 4:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by scania

That’s probably unrelated. But for kicks and giggles....connect the dots.

Meh, in all fairness, a corporate sponsorship (which is what companies typically do in cities where they have HQs) would be much closer to a smoking gun than an alleged LOI (which is not legally binding) signed by an undisclosed tenant for an undisclosed reason.

BrownTown · #**1915** Posted **Oct 21, 2018, 5:14 PM**

I'm going to be pissed if Amazon comes to Jersey. We already pay more taxes than almost any other state and have the most unfunded liabilities to boot. The last thing we need is paying even more taxes to the richest man in the world.

It's fucking sick how this country works. The working class gets destroyed by taxes, but then we roll out the red carpet for the Billionaires and not only say they won't have to pay taxes, but that we'll pay THEM. It's funny how even the "bluest" states all believe in Reaganomics in practice no matter how much they preach against it to get votes.

skyscraperpage17 · #**1916** Posted **Oct 23, 2018, 11:11 AM**

Billion-dollar trucking startup Convoy to open first office outside of Seattle

https://www.geekwire.com/2018/billion-do...onvoy-open-first-office-outside-seattle/

Quote:

Atlanta is on the short list for Amazon HQ2. But the Georgia capital has already landed the east coast hub of another fast-growing Seattle tech company.

Trucking startup Convoy today announced that it picked Atlanta for the first office outside of its Seattle headquarters. The company plans to hire hundreds of employees at the new office to support its on-demand Uber-like technology platform that matches trucking companies and shippers. It will be staffed by operations, support, and account management teams that can better serve customers on east coast time.

Convoy considered 25 other cities across the U.S., but Atlanta beat out other final candidates Cincinnati and Detroit.

Atlanta is one of the leading centers for supply chain. Corporations such as UPS, Delta, Home Depot, and Westrock are also based there. The city is also among the 20 finalists for Amazon’s second headquarters, which will reportedly be announced soon.

Two former Amazon employees started Convoy in 2015. The company last month raised a massive $185 million investment round led by Alphabet’s venture capital arm that pushed its valuation over $1 billion, joining a select group of “unicorns” in the Seattle region.

Convoy and its investors — which include Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos — see huge opportunity in the U.S. trucking industry, a market valued at $700 billion according to the American Trucking Association, which forecasts 3.4 percent in annual growth of freight volume until 2023.

Historic · #**1917** Posted **Oct 23, 2018, 1:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

Billion-dollar trucking startup Convoy to open first office outside of Seattle

https://www.geekwire.com/2018/billion-do...onvoy-open-first-office-outside-seattle/

This is a huge data point to suggest that Atlanta is still very much the front-runner for Amazon HQ2.

Sura · #**1918** Posted **Oct 23, 2018, 2:26 PM**

Great news. Hopefully we'll hear something about location soon.

skyscraperpage17 · #**1919** Posted **Oct 23, 2018, 9:20 PM**

Could this have been the reason Amazon returned to NYC?

Amazon distribution center coming to Queens

https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/new-york/amazon-distribution-center-queens

wonshirim · #**1920** Posted **Oct 23, 2018, 11:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

Could this have been the reason Amazon returned to NYC?

Amazon distribution center coming to Queens

https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/new-york/amazon-distribution-center-queens

Yes, probably. Amazon solicited key data from 20 major metro areas to make decisions about non-HQ2 affairs. I think recent Chicago, Miami, NJ/NY visits were an extension of this. Remember, it's almost November now. Amazon will announce once the Gulch deal passes the pitiful City Council.