What's Toledo thinking about Amazon's new headquarters?

[ferraris]

In Amazon HQ2 bid, Pittsburgh has a friend in Erie | TribLIVE

Too bad Toledo hasn't done anything like this in support of Cleveland or Detroit's bids.

[Rebek56]

It looks as if Toledo and Maumee have joined forces. https://www.toledoblade.com/local/20...0-Million.html

[ferraris]

Toledo mayoral candidate Wade Kapszukiewicz in September said city's leaders should attempt to partner with Detroit in a bid to convince Amazon to build its second headquarters in this region. Toledo alone does not meet Amazon's stated requirements — a metropolitan area of more than 1 million people, an advanced mass transit system, and an international airport, he said.

Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson's office responded by saying the city was planning its own bid.

Mr. Kapszukiewicz Thursday criticized the city’s effort to compete for Amazon.

He said the city’s response to a request for proposals fell short because it was done “quietly and alone.”

“Toledo may have turned in the paperwork, but it missed another opportunity,” Mr. Kapszukiewicz said.

I have to agree with Kapszukiewicz here. I'm glad the city put in a proposal, but it certainly had a much better shot teaming up with Detroit/Ann Arbor.

The Southwyck site isn't exactly great other than being free, and I imagine plenty of cities have free land to offer.

Toledo may be correct in saying they are the city that could get Amazon up and running the fastest. Amazon would be a ridiculously large player in Toledo if they came, and could easily swing their weight around to get whatever they want.

[acealive1]

Originally Posted by ferraris

I have to agree with Kapszukiewicz here. I'm glad the city put in a proposal, but it certainly had a much better shot teaming up with Detroit/Ann Arbor.

The Southwyck site isn't exactly great other than being free, and I imagine plenty of cities have free land to offer.

Toledo may be correct in saying they are the city that could get Amazon up and running the fastest. Amazon would be a ridiculously large player in Toledo if they came, and could easily swing their weight around to get whatever they want.

if this happens, its near the airport and the land is already open.

but thats what toledo does, they tear things down and say they have a buyer and....well.....how long has southwyck been gone? that many deals couldnt have possibly "fell through". i doubt they ever had a buyer


like i said, toledo thinks they are new york city charging high prices for businesses to open/build here

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by ferraris

I have to agree with Kapszukiewicz here. I'm glad the city put in a proposal, but it certainly had a much better shot teaming up with Detroit/Ann Arbor.

The Southwyck site isn't exactly great other than being free, and I imagine plenty of cities have free land to offer.

Toledo may be correct in saying they are the city that could get Amazon up and running the fastest. Amazon would be a ridiculously large player in Toledo if they came, and could easily swing their weight around to get whatever they want.

ITA with the bold. Honestly though I think Toledo and Detroit are too far away from each other to do a proposal together. I really do think they should have just focused on our general metro area together and some closer communities.

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by acealive1

if this happens, its near the airport and the land is already open.

but thats what toledo does, they tear things down and say they have a buyer and....well.....how long has southwyck been gone? that many deals couldnt have possibly "fell through". i doubt they ever had a buyer


like i said, toledo thinks they are new york city charging high prices for businesses to open/build here

Wanted to disagree with the bold. I don't think Toledo charges high prices to businesses. I honestly do think Toledo would give away Southwyck to Amazon or any other large player just to get some economic growth and that is what they tried to do.

Oftentimes with development, costs associated with construction, permits (which Toledo is heavy on so I will give you this one) and just securing financing in particular is difficult. Toledo is not a solid place for development right now and so we from a development standpoint, IMO we are riskier than even Detroit. Detroit has a LOT of development going on compared to us, as do many of the other smaller metros in the mix with Amazon that are similar in size to us. Just building up excitement about a potential Amazon bid IMO would encourage more developers to look to our metro for opportunities. I think they are here but that our leadership just doesn't brand us and isn't a cheerleader for us like they should be at the moment.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by residinghere2007

ITA with the bold. Honestly though I think Toledo and Detroit are too far away from each other to do a proposal together. I really do think they should have just focused on our general metro area together and some closer communities.

For the purposes of HQ2, I think Toledo-Detroit is a one way relationship. Toledo would benefit greatly from a joint proposal, but Detroit wouldn't really gain all that much. They benefit a little from Toledo's schools and population center being nearby, but that's the case whether they make a joint proposal or not.

On the other hand, I thought it was ridiculous that Maumee submitted a solo-proposal that didn't include Toledo.

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by ferraris

For the purposes of HQ2, I think Toledo-Detroit is a one way relationship. Toledo would benefit greatly from a joint proposal, but Detroit wouldn't really gain all that much. They benefit a little from Toledo's schools and population center being nearby, but that's the case whether they make a joint proposal or not.

On the other hand, I thought it was ridiculous that Maumee submitted a solo-proposal that didn't include Toledo.

I did as well. I thought that Perrysburg had as well, read that somewhere and that is silly too IMO.

However, IMO it really shows how disunited our region is and that is a sad thing. We have a government agency called TMACOG that includes all the regional governments and City of Toledo and they should have done a proposal via TMACOG IMO.

Just really silly they cannot come together to do a proposal.

Read today that the Mayor did do a proposal but that it was ridiculous compared to other cities and that even Maumee had a better proposal than Toledo. Shows more and more how inept our current mayor is IMO. Seems like she is a nice lady but in over her head and hoping Wade wins the election in the upcoming weeks.

[ferraris]

Toledo's proposal.

Maumee's Proposal

I agree that it highlights how disjointed the region is. Especially since Toledo's proposal includes Maumee as an option, and Maumee's proposal, obviously hinges on being next to Toledo. If you're Amazon, you have to be thinking "How much could they really have thought this through if they submitted two separate proposals?" The two proposals are essentially just two different presentations of the same arguments & data. It's like a professor assigned a group project, and everyone did it on their own and submitted them separately.

One thing that stuck out to me as unpolished in Toledo's proposal was the list of universities. It seems to be in a random order. It's not alphabetical. It's not by geographic distance. It's not be school ranking (ITT Tech above Eastern Michigan?). Perhaps a minor detail, but it was just kind of weird. A slightly better geographic location is about the only thing Toledo has over Detroit in this race.

I think a little more effort could have been put into making Toledo Express seem like an attractive option. Just a statement or two from some Airport executive showing that they have capacity to expand domestic flight destinations if demand is there. DTW isn't far, but it's not close either.

Honestly, I have to say both proposals were better than I expected, though. I just wish they had picked one or the other together.