Could the Denver metro be the home of the new Amazon HQ2? (Longmont: 2015, per square foot)

[headingtoDenver]

Originally Posted by whoisjongalt

Denver is slowly (quickly?) being destroyed by this endless influx of people. Amazon would just be one more nail in the coffin. Pretty soon everything from Ft. Collins to Colorado Springs will be one big parking lot and idiots will just talk about how wonderful it is that there is a thousandth new brewpub or that their house has gone up 200%.

You should move. I heard that the middle of North Dakota is nice this time of year.

[daprara]

it is going to take years, if it happens at all, for Amazon to build out the new location(s).
likely nothing is going to happen over night.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by daprara

it is going to take years, if it happens at all, for Amazon to build out the new location(s).
likely nothing is going to happen over night.

One thing you can count on happening as we speak are opportunists buying up land and properties with an eye to hosting this puppy. IIRC someone has already laid dibs on the Gates Rubber location and probably others. My fave pick is the area out by DIA where there is a rail transit line, lots of land and a toll road that carries a low volume of traffic (for now, eh).

From the historical case files....Disney "lost" the area around the original Disneyland in Anaheim, CA by not first buying up all the surrounding land, thus every chain hotel and eatery known to man flocked to Anaheim to get their hands on a big thick rich slice of that tourism pie. When Disney wanted to build Disney World, they never announced it, they SECRETLY bought up thousands of acres of Florida land near Orlando and did so under a variety of names that showed no relation to Disney. This allowed Disney to control wide areas of land around the theme park so they could build their own hotels and eateries so that those added profits also fed into the corporation.

To my knowledge Amazon isn't buying up land anywhere, so opportunists are taking options to buy parcels in anticipation of the announcement....

[emm74]

Or possibly Amazon has already bought up the land they want when they want to expand, and this beauty contest was just a good publicity stunt!

[BarryK123]

Originally Posted by headingtoDenver

You should move. I heard that the middle of North Dakota is nice this time of year.

But there are only two seasons there - winter and July 4.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by BarryK123

But there are only two seasons there - winter and July 4.

Yes, but I hear the fireworks are worth it...

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

One thing you can count on happening as we speak are opportunists buying up land and properties with an eye to hosting this puppy. IIRC someone has already laid dibs on the Gates Rubber location and probably others. My fave pick is the area out by DIA where there is a rail transit line, lots of land and a toll road that carries a low volume of traffic (for now, eh).

From the historical case files....Disney "lost" the area around the original Disneyland in Anaheim, CA by not first buying up all the surrounding land, thus every chain hotel and eatery known to man flocked to Anaheim to get their hands on a big thick rich slice of that tourism pie. When Disney wanted to build Disney World, they never announced it, they SECRETLY bought up thousands of acres of Florida land near Orlando and did so under a variety of names that showed no relation to Disney. This allowed Disney to control wide areas of land around the theme park so they could build their own hotels and eateries so that those added profits also fed into the corporation.

To my knowledge Amazon isn't buying up land anywhere, so opportunists are taking options to buy parcels in anticipation of the announcement....

Dibs? Someone owns all of the potential locations and is surely marketing them as potential sites. You need to study up on how the commercial real estate market works these days. And come on Anaheim is ridiculous example. All those hotels didn't show up the day after they opened. Disney did make a lot of money on the land sales, but they sold it off fairly early in the process because they needed other investors to build to support the business. What happened in Orlando is no different, for all the hotels they eventually built there are still far more rooms built by others which support park visitation.

Amazon doesn't care about land right now because they will balk if the land is priced too high. Up to the day they acquire the property they could always pull out. That keeps speculation down and keeps any potential land seller from holding them hostage. If someone warn to sell it for twice what they are willing to pay they say forget it and the land owner sees the land lose 80% of the value they thought it was worth.

[Mike from back east]

Willy, I told the story as I learned it, a good 25 or 30 years ago in business magazines. I was able to find a website to support my recollections of that article. It's considered a textbook case.

Wikepedia tells much the same story. Excerpt: "Working strictly in secrecy, real estate agents unaware of their client's identity began making offers to landowners in April 1964 in parts of southwest Orange and northwest Osceola counties. The agents were careful not to reveal the extent of their intentions, and they were able to negotiate numerous land contracts with some including large tracts of land for as little as $100 an acre. With the understanding that the recording of the first deeds would trigger intense public scrutiny, Disney delayed the filing of paperwork until a large portion of the land was under contract."

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Willy, I told the story as I learned it, a good 25 or 30 years ago in business magazines. I was able to find a website to support my recollections of that article. It's considered a textbook case.

Wikepedia tells much the same story. Excerpt: "Working strictly in secrecy, real estate agents unaware of their client's identity began making offers to landowners in April 1964 in parts of southwest Orange and northwest Osceola counties. The agents were careful not to reveal the extent of their intentions, and they were able to negotiate numerous land contracts with some including large tracts of land for as little as $100 an acre. With the understanding that the recording of the first deeds would trigger intense public scrutiny, Disney delayed the filing of paperwork until a large portion of the land was under contract."

That's how many years ago? And did it stop non Disney hotels from proliferating? Disney just wanted room to grow and still has it, but I doubt they cared about being the only hotel business in the area.

Can't do it anymore with all land records online. All one can do is gather up options to buy land and they don't work often because commercial real estate is a cutthroat business and agents sabotage deals all the time. If an agent gets wind of a couple of contiguous land options they race in to find the owners near it and tell them to sell at inflated prices. The only way to get around it is either be willing to walk or get eminent domain involved.

[Mike from back east]

Of course a lot of hotels flourished in the Orlando area, I've stayed in them, but Disney had tons of land on which to place their pricey hotel properties to the eternal profit of Disney. They have a ton of land left on which to build more hotels if they wish to; point being they maximized their gain on this investment rather than lose the bulk of the tourist trade to other firms.

I'm sure speculators and opportunists are working to get a piece of this Amazon deal, via whatever means are used these days....they're going to try, it's what they do.