Phoenix metroplex should go after Amazon's 2nd HQ (Tempe, Casa Grande: salary, to live in)

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

I do believe CenturyLink does offer fiber connectivity to businesses in Tempe, although it is not yet available in gigabit speeds (Gigabit Fiber from CenturyLink is currently available to select residences and businesses in Anthem, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sun City, and Surprise).

I don't know about that. CenturyLink is terrible.

Originally Posted by cjseliga

It's quite interesting reading all of the various threads about this on the specific city forums throughout C-D, with people trying to figure out places in their respective metroplexes that fit all of Amazon's demands/requirements/wish list.

Many say Amazon loves to be near downtowns, but when you throw in the 100 acres of available land, not too many cities with +1 million has that kind of land near a downtown, except maybe Detroit. I wonder how many of their "demands" or "wishes" are hard and steadfast, and which are negotiable or less important. I guess we'll all find out next year on which city/site they choose and how close it is to the original desires.

One wonders if there is even such a mythical place in the US/Canada that fits all of their current requirements.

Amazon wants public transit, which objectively favors a Downtown area. They want things that are compatible with a high-density area, versus a low density area. No one puts public transit in low density areas where such land like this is more likely to be, especially within 2 miles of a freeway.

I believe it was St. Louis (?) that destroyed a historic district for a business' HQ that ended up relocating after building a low-density corporate office park that spanned quite a bit of land. Cities should opt for the least land possible to achieve such a HQ Amazon needs while preserving historic neighborhoods, to not ruin the urban fabric of the city it is going to relocate to.

Below is an image that I drew up quickly that within DT Phoenix MAY have the place for a big site that Amazon wants (Don't know if its 100 acres). All of it will involve tearing down houses which is a problem, but I tried to pick out areas that A) are not in historic districts and B) contained minimal housing.

YELLOW: Existing light rail

ORANGE: Planned light rail

RED BOXES: Potential sites



100 acres is about 1/6 of a square mile

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

I don't know about that. CenturyLink is terrible.

Actually, I just found out that Cox Gigablast has been available in parts of Tempe since late last year. Cox started offering it in Tempe ever since Google scrapped its plans for Google Fiber last year.

[Tall Traveler]

I'm guessing Amazon would want to be on the eastern US for their second HQ but it would be great for Phoenix if they were able to pull this off....pulling for Phoenix.

[goolsbyjazz]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

I'm guessing Amazon would want to be on the eastern US for their second HQ but it would be great for Phoenix if they were able to pull this off....pulling for Phoenix.

As much as I would like them to locate the hq in Arizona I think the east makes more sense.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by goolsbyjazz

As much as I would like them to locate the hq in Arizona I think the east makes more sense.

My guess is Atlanta.

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

I think Raleigh-Durham is a terrific option also. Some possible other "out of the box" cities would be Nashville, Miami, or Minneapolis.

From the Raleigh/Durham board. And I agree with it.

Originally Posted by NC211

Sorry all, but playing Debbie downer here on this. Likely to be in Loudoun/Fairfax County suburbs of DC. Bezos recently purchased one of the largest single family homes in all of DC located around the corner from Obamas, Trump/Kushner, Clinton and others. Dulles Airport has storage and operational infrastructure in place now, population base is well in excess of 1mm, and DC has become a tech hub right up there with San Jose, thanks to constant flow of tech government contractor firms focused on security, process delivery, and integration.


Loudoun County, which basically starts at Dulles airport, has untold amounts of developable space for the proposed and endless expansion. Infrastructure to support and degree of technology Amazon might ever want or need is sitting in Loudoun, with over 90% of the nation's internet traffic flowing through the vast array of newly developed data centers that are all over the place (and more coming). And what is not brand new, is not that old either, considering America Online's world HQ has always been in Loudoun.


I don't see RDU as the place, but would be nice if it were.

[Hal Roach]

Housing costs are way too high in Loudoun...lots of NIMBYs too. Median home is 400+....some of the worst traffic in the US, too. A corporate HQ, yes, but not any kind of call center, shipping facility. Micron has done well in Manassas, but the VRE hasn't changed much since the Civil War, boasting speeds of 35 mph...tops. Eli Lily had the steel structure in for a new factory, but moved it to Italy for global security purposes, as the main factory is in Indiana. AOL? Bwahaha...yes, twenty years ago, helped fuel tech growth in Loudoun, but it has since lingered like bad gas. Government contracting is the name of the game, there, and none of it is low pay, like Amazon is known for. Airport jobs are just about the bottom rung, and they even discovered a security officer was a former Somali war criminal. Cincinnati makes much more sense.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

Amazon already has an office here in Tempe and they struggle to hire people for the tech positions there. So they have an office on top of two fulfillment centers here. They aren't going to put in the HQ here. Let's look at what they want:

Here's the requirements for HQ2:
- 30 miles from a 1 million population center
- 45 minutes from international airport
- Less than 2 miles from a freeway
- Must have public transit AT THE SITE
- Needs a site that can have 500,000 square feet right now (or 100 acres to build), that can expand to 8 MILLION in the future

Amazon has a best chance at building east of DT near the Airport. They have the airport connectivity and there's less buildings out there, giving them the site they need. But they cannot build a building as high because of Sky Harbor, which means to spread out more. I don't see anywhere else they can go that would fit the requirements. North Tempe near ASU is pretty built up, so I'm doubtful that they can build a big enough space they need there.

What about somewhere in the Central Corridor along or near Central Avenue? I don't mean right downtown ... I'm referring to somewhere north of the I10 deck park which believe it or not still has some empty spaces and vacated buildings which could be replaced with some nice highrises. It would give the Midtown area a nice shot of energy which it needs. The Central Corridor would definitely meet all the above requirements you listed (except I'm not sure about the square footage).

[TempeAZnative]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

Amazon already has an office here in Tempe and they struggle to hire people for the tech positions there. So they have an office on top of two fulfillment centers here. They aren't going to put in the HQ here. Let's look at what they want:

Here's the requirements for HQ2:
- 30 miles from a 1 million population center
- 45 minutes from international airport
- Less than 2 miles from a freeway
- Must have public transit AT THE SITE
- Needs a site that can have 500,000 square feet right now (or 100 acres to build), that can expand to 8 MILLION in the future

Here are preferred things that Amazon will probably get due to heavy competition:
- Sustainability (green energy)
- Fiber connectivity
- "Cultural community fit" that includes EXCELLENT higher education, diverse population, cooperative government, and stable economy
- Quality of life such as lots of recreation

Now square footage wise, they want HQ2 to be comparable to the Seattle HQ, let's look at it, shall we?
- 8.1 million square feet
- Employs more than 40,000 people
- Has 4 restaurants
- Provides 233,000 guests every year that stay in hotels
- Spans 33 buildings

There is plenty of space along Washington that is rip for developement such as 40th St and Washington at the Former Greyhound Track/Park and Swap. Exsisting light rail station, one light rail stop away from the Sky Harbor Phx Sky train, huge lot ripe for development and next to Honeywell, access to the Hohokam which give access to the 10, 60 and 202 near ASU and is between downtown Phoenix and Tempe.

Hopefully this stretch of Washington will eventually be cleaned up and developed into a huge business corridor.

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by TempeAZnative

There is plenty of space along Washington that is rip for developement such as 40th St and Washington at the Former Greyhound Track/Park and Swap. Exsisting light rail station, one light rail stop away from the Sky Harbor Phx Sky train, huge lot ripe for development and next to Honeywell, access to the Hohokam which give access to the 10, 60 and 202 near ASU and is between downtown Phoenix and Tempe.

Hopefully this stretch of Washington will eventually be cleaned up and developed into a huge business corridor.

So no one looked st the map I attached? Because I literally attached a map showing potential sites where you and Valley Native just mentioned that I took the time out of my day to draw up. Please, a few posts up...