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^not sure if you're the only one, but I don't agree. They want cities to think creatively about this...ie, come up with the absolute best incentive package and also show us your best site plans (that again could be part of an incentive package). So yeah, there's a good chance more than one city offers something that was unexpected, and that will change the dynamic. As I said in my other post, I think it's kinda silly (but fun nonetheless) to speculate on which cities these could be.
Am I the only one who thinks Amazon already has a pretty clear idea of what they want to do?
They have likely already made a decision (with a few backup cities) and are now playing the who will give us the most freebies game to get the best deal possible.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jandrew5
I think DC would be perfect for this. Huge tech presence, its in the EST, most educated and healthiest metro in the country, big public transit system, on I95 with 3 major airports, plenty of Starbucks per capita, and its already expensive.
Im thinking of Arlington/Tysons/Reston specifically as a perfect location, but I dont think a DC/Baltimore setup is a bad idea either.
NOVA and especially Tysons/ Silver Line corridor (an existing specifically TECH corridor) is the best positioned fit for the total requirements by the RFP in the Eastern US, period. No urban/ suburban combination in the country compares for a project like this. Cities like Chicago and Philly win on urbanity but that's mainly it. I don't think Amazon is tied into being in a super urban or more urban place than Seattle. This is a corporate headquarters not a distribution center, so being in the center of the country isn't necessarily brownie points, and the multi billion dollar Silver Line Metro was literally created specifically for housing mega sized HQ projects like this, and soon will connect to and beyond Dulles International Airport. Tyson's is already 12th largest business district in the US and probably the country's largest "edge city" by sf of office space. This company essentially wants an urban "campus", which is exactly what Tysons and the other towns along the SL already do, while connecting directly to Metro and Dulles.
The money is there, the education/ universities, airports, and proximity to power etc. For those who don't know, this Silver Line corridor is really already the "tech hub" of the East Coast. (and probably Raleigh-Durham also)
With that said I still feel like HQ2 may be put in a smaller/ medium size market, my previous prediction of Charlotte I'm going to completely scrap. If they don't care about going East maybe Austin or Denver, if they try East maybe Raleigh.
I feel like some scare tactic will be used to drive Amazon away from the Beltway as only for optics, but would not bother me anyway to see a smaller area get the prize.
Last edited by the resident09; 09-10-2017 at 12:23 AM..
Georgia Tech, Emory University, Morehouse, Spelman, Kennesaw State, Georgia State, and University of Georgia. There also many people in area who went to Vanderbilt, University of Florida, Auburn, USC Cola, and Clemson. Atlanta has many problems but higher education is not one of them. But Chicago does have little problem called taxes. If they are willing to pay that much for a hq in Chicago they might as well go to NY or Boston
Yes, I agree that Chicago does have a tax issue, and Atlanta is educated. Chicago has many colleges ( if you mentioned small colleges in Atlanta, then Chicago, in addition to heavy hitters Northwestern, U of Chicago, University of Illinois and University of Wisconsin, has DePaul ( largest Catholic university in America ) University of Illinois Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, Loyola, Roosevelt, Columbia, and if you are reaching for U of Florida, then U of Mich, Notre Dame, etc.. It has the el and suburban rail, it, and even though large, has locations within downtown near to this transportation to handle such a campus that are close to this rail transportation. Boston and NYC do not.
Why not Boston or NYC? The COL for the workers and talent should be reasonable, and housing costs in these areas are definitely not, as well as land costs. Chicago, despite the tax problem, has been ranked number one in corporate expansion for the last four years, and has a booming healthy downtown, in spite of Springfield. The location ( east central ) has easier access to the east and south, while maintaining a close proximity to the central states.
It seems that social issues are important to Jeff Bezos, and Chicago, as a sanctuary city leader and liberal leaning like Seattle, would have the edge there on anything in the south, even Atlanta. Chicago already has a fairly large Amazon presence. I am not saying that Chicago would have a lock on this by any means, but it really does have alot of advantages alot of other places don't have in this race. Good luck to them all.
Location: Pittsburgh (via Chicago, via Pittsburgh)
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Chicago's Old Post Office has over 2 million square feet, is currently being renovated, literally sits on top of a highway, is very close to Chicago's CTA network and Union Station, and has room for expansion. I can't think of a better spot in the U.S. that fits their criteria.
Chicago's Old Post Office has over 2 million square feet, is currently being renovated, literally sits on top of a highway, is very close to Chicago's CTA network and Union Station, and has room for expansion. I can't think of a better spot in the U.S. that fits their criteria.
potentially the 30th street area and rail capping in Philly
More than 9 Million of development opportunity. On top of 30th street rail station with 22 regional rail lines, Amtrak, subways, underground light rail, at the intersection of I76, and I676, 1.5 miles from I95. Next to Drexel and Penn
also a sanctuary city and already designated as a Keystone subsidy zone
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