PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by Mr Saturn64

However, there will only be one in Crystal City. They are done the search.

They said they don't plan to "reopen the search" which doesn't explicitly mean that they won't open a second HQ2 location. Theoretically they spent over a year "searching" and know what's available to them, so doing another search would be redundant. Also, this is kind of a wound licker - something of an embarrassment - my guess is they'll need to take some time, reevaluate, and make a more calculated (read: politically viable) move sometime in the future. No point in rushing to alternatives the day of a pretty awkward press release...

[ScreamShatter]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

They already said they are not choosing another location. They will grow in Crystal City and Nashville and continue to expand operations throughout the country per their statement.

Generally agree that they probably won't go to another city, but I want to point out their language that they said they weren't "reopening the RFP process" which could mean a lot of things but not necessarily that they won't select a second HQ. They've already done the analysis so they have their Top 5 ranked. They could potentially expand into some of those cities without reopening the RFP process.

[iamrobk]

Am I the only one who doesn't hate Symphony House? Lol. I don't love it, but at worst I feel it's innocuous.

Re: HQ2, I imagine they'll just spread out the additional hires among their various existing (and soon-to-exist, i.e. NoVa/Nashville) sites. I doubt all 25k people they wanted to hire would be doing the same thing, but there'd probably be people spread out among a ton of different teams. Instead of just consolidating them in NYC (which was likely unnecessary anyway) they'll just put them in different spots. Totally just IMO but would make sense.

[iheartphilly]

There's a contingent of New Yorkers that already live in Philly for its lower cost of living but take a NYC salary and commute by train to NYC to work. If Amazon was smart, they would have an outpost here. It doesn't have to be the full 25k. It will give them the ability to get the tech folks from NYC to possible re-locate if such outpost exist. A few thousand tech jobs would be very good for the city with the Amazon nameplate attach to it. Then you could see Google follow suit. It's one of those things where we just need one recognizable tech name to attract more.

[Milksteak]

Originally Posted by Boku

The people who live there and would be affected by it should have a voice, it's their right. Tbh, I'm not sure why Amazon expected the red carpet to be rolled out; all of these criticisms were voiced during the selection process. That the company gave up this quickly is quite childish.

70% of New Yorkers supported it...so the few got their voice, and now the city will be void of 25,000 taxable jobs. These people didn't see or hear any plans, they just heard 'Amazon new headquarters' and started kicking and screaming until they got their way.

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by Milksteak

70% of New Yorkers supported it...so the few got their voice, and now the city will be void of 25,000 taxable jobs. These people didn't see or hear any plans, they just heard 'Amazon new headquarters' and started kicking and screaming until they got their way.

25,000 jobs added spread across like 10 years. the few thousand they add every year would barely register as a blip on New York's radar. I don't think it is ridiculous to question giving so many tax breaks and allowances to the world's richest company, owned by the world's richest man, when you're a city that has no issue at all bringing in jobs.

Amazon looks clueless here. They had this big long contest waving their jobs in front of everyone's faces to get tax breaks, and then they settled in basically the one city in America where no one really gives a 🞵🞵🞵🞵 about adding jobs and is in fact in the midst of a housing crisis with overflowing public transit to the point where there is a significant contingent of people that are openly hostile to adding these tops of jobs in large numbers.

Them opening up a headquarters here, even if it was for less the 25,000 would make all the sense in the world. But then again, based on what they said they wanted, it made 10 times as much sense to come here instead of NYC in the first place, so I'm not optimistic.

Regardless I still think it is good news for Philadelphia. Setting aside whether or not people were smart to fight against Amazon coming to NYC, the very fact that they did and won really demonstrates that the New York is starting to turn a corner in terms of public sentiment. People are getting fed up with the never ending expansion and ever rising costs, clearly. There will still be tons of jobs heading to NYC, but if Amazon couldn't make a go of it, there will be others. If we can just peel off a small percentage of that run off we'll be in good shape.

[Boku]

Originally Posted by Milksteak

70% of New Yorkers supported it...so the few got their voice, and now the city will be void of 25,000 taxable jobs. These people didn't see or hear any plans, they just heard 'Amazon new headquarters' and started kicking and screaming until they got their way.

Why would Amazon pull out if it had such overwhelming support? The fact of the matter is some populists were elected and Amazon realized they might not get the billions of dollars they were promised, so they hightailed it out of there. Who are the ones kicking and screaming here?

[McBane]

Agreed with the general sentiment. New York City (along with a few other locales) are not places that need to offer lucrative subsidies to attract businesses. I get why people were pissed. I'd imagine there are many Philadelphians (Helen Gym for sure!) who would object to Amazon as if we have an endless stream of corporations knocking on our door!

They'll probably seek to further expand Crystal City and other existing locations. If they want a brand new HQ2, perhaps Newark? I recall they offered very generous tax breaks and they'd still be in the NY metro area. But based on the cities they chose, it doesn't seem like Amazon is in the business of "rescuing" the cities that needed Amazon the most (like Philly).

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by Milksteak

70% of New Yorkers supported it...so the few got their voice, and now the city will be void of 25,000 taxable jobs. These people didn't see or hear any plans, they just heard 'Amazon new headquarters' and started kicking and screaming until they got their way.

New Yorkers meaning New York State? Or City? It's a state-led effort. That stat could be a bit misleading. I mean, really, who the F cares what some guy in Buffalo thinks.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by Mr Saturn64

Amazon Says it will not Build a Headquarters in New York After Mounting Opposition

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/14/amazon-s...mounting-opposition-reuters-reports.html

That was so far beyond unexpected. However, there will only be one in Crystal City. They are done the search.

• Video Link

Don't let the door smack you on the 🞵🞵🞵!

Seriously, after giving us the middle finger the way they did I don't see why we should bend over backwards to kiss Jeff Bezos' 🞵🞵🞵, anymore.

[Milksteak]

Originally Posted by Londonee

New Yorkers meaning New York State? Or City? It's a state-led effort. That stat could be a bit misleading. I mean, really, who the F cares what some guy in Buffalo thinks.

Yeah fair enough, it doesn’t say...so perhaps it is purposely misleading.

[skyscraper]

This whole process has been a farce. both NYC and Amazon look like 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 as a result.
Did NYC not anticipate that there would be opposition? Is there not enough support for the project in the city and state to outdo the opposition?
And just because a small minority of politicians threaten a fight, Amazon folds like a cheap suit? They were essentially asking 238 cities to fight for the privilege of having HQ2 in their city, which they did. But Amazon won't fight for the place that was selected for half of the HQ?
Very revealing.

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by Londonee

New Yorkers meaning New York State? Or City? It's a state-led effort. That stat could be a bit misleading. I mean, really, who the F cares what some guy in Buffalo thinks.

If that guy in Buffalo objected to this and refused to pay his taxes to support it, they'd sure as hell care.

[Boku]

I think this also proves false Amazon's reasoning that it picked NYC because of the abundance of available tech workers. How could it leave so easily if the concentration of workers was such a vital part of their decision to set up shop there? "The need to hire tens of thousands of high-tech workers has been the driving force behind the search..." (via the New York Times in November)

It was all about publicity and free money, as a lot of people said at the beginning of this process. Once the going got tough...

That being said, I still wouldn't mind if they moved it to Philly, lol.

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by Boku

That being said, I still wouldn't mind if they moved it to Philly, lol.

Well as I said, it's very revealing. It's like when you know someone cheats on their significant other, then you start dating them thinking "it'll be different when they're with *me*."

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by Milksteak

You don't just decide to not hire 25k people, so either they are going to put it all in Crystal City, they are going to spread those employees out across the US, or they are going to choose another location. They are not re-opening the search, but I'd be willing to bet they are speaking with the other finalist cities.

But man, those dolts who raised a big stink about this in NY really screwed this up.

Amazon's 1600 new jobs per year while not nothing is not that big of a deal in the NYC job market. NYC might be the one business district to be able to turn down that volume of new jobs and not have it mean much. Amazon HQ2 'search' was a real dog and pony show; the reality of the end result many years down the pike, doesn't seem worth the high cost to NYC and the State

[Boku]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

Well as I said, it's very revealing. It's like when you know someone cheats on their significant other, then you start dating them thinking "it'll be different when they're with *me*."

They've changed this time! I just know it! Lol.

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

If that guy in Buffalo objected to this and refused to pay his taxes to support it, they'd sure as hell care.

They should care because clearly the education system failed this guy if he thinks he can withhold his taxes if he doesn't like how the government is using his money.

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by allovertown

They should care because clearly the education system failed this guy if he thinks he can withhold his taxes if he doesn't like how the government is using his money.

Sir...I had the same thought but you put it better in words and now thanks my lunch from my mouth is all over my desk! You win funny post of the day!

[Milksteak]

Let's be real. If Amazon selected Philly, then a handful of politicians and residents opposed and ultimately caused them to back out....this would be a VERY different discussion.