Amazon HQ2 thread

[10023]

Originally Posted by skyscraperpage17

I don't why people are getting so irritated about the weather-related discussion, as if it's not relevant.

It is most certainly a factor when companies and people consider relocation. That's why you don't see a ton of non-regional HQs in Lake-Effect Snow Belts or Alaska, because it would be a PITA trying to convince outside talent to come and work for them when they have to dig out of a ton of snow every weather and freeze their butt off (unless it's a place that's something special like NYC).

Alaska's problem isn't weather, it's distance, connectivity, size, and talent. All of these are interconnected of course. Moscow has worse weather than Anchorage and it's a megacity.

[cannedairspray]

Originally Posted by Mr Roboto

Baltimore is an interesting choice as a contender, I never would have had them on the radar. Proximity to DC works in their favor, and being on the east coast and in a large mega-region

The proximity to DC is probably the primary factor. Frankly, Amazon is unlikely to plop themselves down directly in the District, so if they still want to be in the MSA, the options come down to the Northern VA suburbs (a good option and as we all know can be rather urban in the right places, if that's what they want) or the Maryland suburbs (same). But the Maryland governor has already thrown his support in for Baltimore, indicating that if it were to go to the Maryland side of the District, it might as well go a half an hour further, out of the MSA but still in the CSA, and be in Baltimore.

Which leads one to...

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Baltimore would probably also have little trouble putting together brownfield land for an Amazon campus or Amazon might choose to locate in several of its suburbs that lack the "social issues" such as Towson. And it has some residential neighborhoods so nice that most people here familiar with Baltimore's grit might have trouble imagining them.

Under Armor already has the TIF in place for their new campus, and infrastructure construction has already started. Goldman Sachs has invested upwards of $200 million into it and it has the room for Amazon as well.

http://buildportcovington.com/

This is on the south side of Baltimore, so you're a 50 minute drive from Union Station in DC (you'd never drive that, you'd take a train from DC to Baltimore's Penn Station and then take the light rail, but you get the point), and the entirety of DC's Maryland suburbs are closer than that.

It's not a frontrunner- even the proposed light rail extension to Port Covington would only service a small section of the metro area- but it's not unwise to lump it in with DC and suddenly you can see why it's not a bad idea.

There's a NYT article that lists it second, behind Pittsburgh and before Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago and Boston.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/26/business/amazon-headquarters-competition.html

[Centropolis]

what is this, 1980? in any case, i think we have seen the result of metro areas kowtowing to corporate juggarnaughts. st. louis had around the same number of fortune 500 companies as los angeles in the 70s and 80s, for instance.

it was ultimately a mistake to focus on retaining/aquiring large companies, and this amazon debasement is no different.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

what is this, 1980? in any case, i think we have seen the result of metro areas kowtowing to corporate juggarnaughts. st. louis had around the same number of fortune 500 companies as los angeles in the 70s and 80s, for instance.

it was ultimately a mistake to focus on retaining/aquiring large companies, and this amazon debasement is no different.

What F500 companies were in St. Louis that are no longer? Do they still exist in the US? Are they still F500 companies? I'm just guessing, but I feel like most of the F500 companies in St. Louis would likely have been manufacturers and St. Louis/the Midwest and Northeast were bleeding those jobs well into the 70s and 80s. Not really a fair comparison to Amazon. Sears is still a F500 company and they've been at death's door for over a decade. Retailers seem to die a slower death than manufacturers, but that doesn't mean Amazon isn't susceptible to the same fate.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

What F500 companies were in St. Louis that are no longer? Do they still exist in the US? Are they still F500 companies? I'm just guessing, but I feel like most of the F500 companies in St. Louis would likely have been manufacturers and St. Louis/the Midwest and Northeast were bleeding those jobs well into the 70s and 80s. Not really a fair comparison to Amazon. Sears is still a F500 company and they've been at death's door for over a decade. Retailers seem to die a slower death than manufacturers, but that doesn't mean Amazon isn't susceptible to the same fate.

mergers and aquisitions, and straight up HQ relcations. these are big, fortune 500 companies, not dinky, rustbelt manufactoring concerns. st. louis, while industrial, occupied a similar front office niche as chicago with food, aerospace, bio-tech... these are billions with a big B moves/aquisitions...

this is just off the top of my head, a warm-up list...

AT+T HQ to san antonio and then dallas (CEO claimed that the st. louis club wouldnt let him in so he moved a multi-billion dollar corportation)
mcdonnell douglas to boeing/chicago (remember, mcdonnell douglas wasnt much smaller than boeing)
purina to nestle/europe
charter communications HQ to connecticut (for some reason)
clayco construction HQ to chicago
hardees HQ to nashville
monsanto HQ to bayer (germany)
a-b HQ to inbev - belgium
sigma-aldrich absorbed by merck (HQ to new jersey)
sun edision
sav-a-lot (to canada)

[Centropolis]

more mergers/aquisitions

130 year old AG edwards to wachovia
may companies (lord and taylor, filenes, famous barr, etc) to macys/ HQ to NYC
pulitzer, inc
Fleishman-Hillard
boatmans bank (oldest bank west of the mississippi)

a buttload of old school chemical companies too long to list

[Centropolis]

TWA...to american airlines, the st. louis HQ abandoned, hub dismantled.

[Centropolis]

AT+T has something like 30 billion dollars more in annual revenue than amazon, so, yes, it actually was on the scale of like amazon saying "fuck you!" to seattle and jumping ship.

[mhays]

I really doubt that. Did they employ 40,000 with high pay, and occupy 5% of the region's office space (or 20% of the Class A downtown space)?

Basically no other HQ in the country has that kind of oomph, or I've never heard of another, except one...Microsoft across town.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by mhays

I really doubt that. Did they employ 40,000 with high pay, and occupy 5% of the region's office space (or 20% of the Class A downtown space)?

Basically no other HQ in the country has that kind of oomph, or I've never heard of another, except one...Microsoft across town.

well, good point...i forget what a strange bird amazon is. the point stands though that these were big, important headquarters, not rustbelt manufactorers out of business due to structural changes in the economy.

[JManc]

Speaking of Amazon...their stock is up nearly 13% this morning. 13%! That's up over $40 billion in market value. They are now the 4th largest company (by market capt) behind Apple (which is pushing $900bln), Google and Microsoft. Bezos overtook Bill Gates as the world's richest this AM too. But Gates is giving his away...

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by JManc

Speaking of Amazon...their stock is up nearly 13% this morning. 13%! That's up over $40 billion in market value. They are now the 4th largest company (by market capt) behind Apple (which is pushing $900bln), Google and Microsoft. Bezos overtook Bill Gates as the world's richest this AM too. But Gates is giving his away...

amazon is becoming too powerful in my opinion. it will be interesting to see what kind of effects this has, but personally, i don't really like that a single corporations AI is compiling a profile of me sort of against my will, that it can do lord knows what, with. i'm done with whole foods, too.

[Centropolis]

i mean damn, amazon is also my tv!

[C.]

Amazon will be a trillion dollar company.

I would much rather use an Amazon product than Microsoft or Apple. I'm happy they continue to expand.

[C.]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

amazon is becoming too powerful in my opinion. it will be interesting to see what kind of effects this has, but personally, i don't really like that a single corporations AI is compiling a profile of me sort of against my will, that it can do lord knows what, with. i'm done with whole foods, too.

Do you use Google or Facebook? Just wondering...

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by CIA

Amazon will be a trillion dollar company.

I would much rather use an Amazon product than Microsoft or Apple. I'm happy they continue to expand.

Just about all of FAANG with the exception of Apple did well this quarter and their stocks are all reflecting it. That definitely includes Microsoft (although not a FAANG component). Google was also, besides Amazon, a real standout in the last 24 hours.

[Via Chicago]

Jeff Bezos Just Tossed A Nail-Studded Baseball Bat On The Floor Between The Mayors Of Pittsburgh And Kansas City And Asked Who Really Wants The Second Amazon HQ

As Amazon executives review bids placed by cities who want to house the company’s second headquarters, it’s anyone’s guess who will win out. But we may now have a clue who the early frontrunners are: Tech insiders are reporting that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos just tossed a nail-studded baseball bat on the floor during a meeting with the mayors of Pittsburgh and Kansas City and asked them to prove how much they want the second Amazon headquarters.

Industry experts say the civic leaders initially laughed off Bezos’ suggestion, but are now taking it seriously after the executive poured himself a glass of fine bourbon, took one long sip, and simply said, “Thousands of highly skilled jobs that will need filling.”

According to reports, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto was in the process of pleading with Bezos, insisting that surely there must be another way to decide this without appealing to man’s baser instincts, when Kansas City Mayor Sly James cut in to insist that neither man would ever consider harming the other, no matter how great the opportunity. James trailed off mid-sentence when Bezos rang a bell and the mayor of Tampa Bay entered the room on all fours like a dog, apparently blinded from a recent eye trauma, to shakily hand Bezos a cigar that the e-commerce mogul immediately lit as he kicked his feet up onto his desk.

“Maybe I’ll just go with Tampa then,” Bezos said through puffs of his Arturo Fuente, which caused James and Peduto to steal quick glances at the bat between them.

The infrastructure investments Amazon has promised to make in its city of choice alone explain why both mayors are now hesitantly inching closer to the bat, sweat forming at their temples. Insiders say that Mayor James has finally taken off his sports coat and glasses, though he reassured Mayor Peduto that it was simply because the room was warm and in no way because the jacket would limit his range of motion to deliver blows of a nail-studded baseball bat.

Sources have confirmed that Bezos had grown tired of the mayors’ dithering, telling them that this was all “rather unfortunate” and making his way toward the door. But, just as he was about to exit the room, the mayors both lunged toward the bat with everything they had, so it looks like both cities are still totally in contention for HQ2.

Good on you, Pittsburghers and Kansas Citians, you’ve definitely picked leaders that are in it to win it. We wish both cities luck in proving they’re worthy of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

http://www.clickhole.com/article/jeff-bezos-just-tossed-nail-studded-baseball-bat-f-6857

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Just about all of FAANG with the exception of Apple did well this quarter and their stocks are all reflecting it. That definitely includes Microsoft (although not a FAANG component). Google was also, besides Amazon, a real standout in the last 24 hours.

Amazon also is burning a lot of cash and it's stock will probably drop in the coming days as the euphoria fades. Always does with them. Good time to buy when it does...

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by cannedairspray

We can always count on the far left and far right- especially online- to take the most ridiculous and asinine positions in order to fight their little culture war. Best to laugh at them and move on.

wariness of gigantic, invasive mega-corporations is pretty mainstream. or used to be.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

The nativist, Trump right only hates immigrants and free trade. They love unregulated native companies protected from competition.

not really speaking of trump, i'm talking about the anti-neocon basket of conservatives, including paleo-conservatism, opinions that you might see in pat buchanans The American Conservative publication. although it sort of is related to trumpism or bannonism...it's like the sober, non-white nationalist, non-cartoon big brother of it, maybe.

David Brooks writes:
...tend to be suspicious of bigness: big corporations, big government, a big military, concentrated power and concentrated wealth. Writers at that Web site, and at the temperamentally aligned Front Porch Republic, treasure tight communities and local bonds. They’re alert to the ways capitalism can erode community. Dispositionally, they are more Walker Percy than Pat Robertson.