Amazon HQ2 (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill: buses, airport, to move)

[wheelsup]

Atlanta and Dallas stick out as good places. Lots of land, fairly inexpensive employees, etc. Maybe Charlotte as it's cheaper than the other two but the airport is a lot smaller with less international direct flights.

[pierretong1991]

Looking at Amazon's page about HQ2, I see the following:

"Number of annual hotel nights"

"Amount paid into the city's public transportation system as employees' transportation benefit"

"It’s important to us to invest in the communities where we operate in ways that benefit our neighbors and our employees. In Seattle, Amazon has donated to hundreds of charitable organizations across the city that support people of all backgrounds and income levels. And we do it in innovative ways – we are building a permanent home within our Seattle headquarters for Mary’s Place, a local nonprofit offering shelter to homeless families. This charity will receive more than 47,000 sq. ft. of space in one of our newest buildings, providing housing for 200 families."

These things seem to indicate that proximity to a downtown area would be more appealing.

[Gearcrasher]

Depends who will pony up the most money to give them.

[pierretong1991]

Originally Posted by Gearcrasher

Depends who will pony up the most money to give them.

most likely

[adlnc07]

Originally Posted by wheelsup

Atlanta and Dallas stick out as good places. Lots of land, fairly inexpensive employees, etc. Maybe Charlotte as it's cheaper than the other two but the airport is a lot smaller with less international direct flights.

Atlanta came to mind first for me, assuming they wanted somewhere on the east coast.

[loveautumn]

One criteria is international airport (probably meaning many direct flights).

[MrBojangles]

Originally Posted by adlnc07

RDU is just barely an international airport. I can't see Amazon building near here, as cool as it would be.

That doesn't matter. RDU have the infrastructure and future planning for expansion. All they have to provide is the runway. The air carriers will do the rest.

[MrBojangles]

Originally Posted by bronskrat

Where could they even put this that's within 45 miles of the airport?

RTP would be the #1 area around here.

Research Triangle Foundation: RTP is 'perfect solution' for Amazon HQ2 project

[MrBojangles]

More info about RTP: Amazon's HQ2 shopping list is tailor-made for RTP :: The Skinny at WRAL TechWire

Already home to 200 companies and 50,000 workers, RTP has been gearing up for major growth. Now's the time to cash in.
By the way, Amazon already has a growing presence in North Carolina, from Charlotte to Raleigh. And further expansion is already planned. So CEO Jeff Bezos and company already are familiar with the state.
Here's why RTP makes for an ideal destination - a top 10 matchup with Amazon's requirements (listed below):

The Amazon list matches with North Carolina and Triangle offerings top to bottom. The state's leaders have worked for years to create an attractive environment for expansion projects - but the Amazon is amazingly lucrative. All the spade work done to make the state and Triangle attractive to economic developers could now deliver a major payoffs.

First, timing.
The Research Triangle Park is rolling out a new strategic plan with major commitments/funding already lined up to turn the Park into a next-generation blend of high tech, housing and retail.

Second, land.
What about the largely vacant GlaxoSmithKline campus that is in the process of being redeveloped?
And then there are the Research Triangle Foundation's plans for its own land as part of the new strategic plan.
What about some of the land no longer used by IBM at its mega campus?

Third, workforce availability
Time after time, companies such as Infosys (2,000 jobs) have cited the Triangle as a place to grow due to availability of talent from the region's major universities and workforce training provided by community colleges. Then there is the opportunity to poach talent from existing employers, from startups to IBM, Cisco, Cree and many more.

Fourth, operating costs/taxes
North Carolina is well known for cutting deals on taxes and on costs such as utilities.

Fifth, fiber
The Triangle is a hub for some of the best fiber/high speed network capabilities in the countries. There are many major providers already available in RTP, from AT&T to Frontier to MCNC and its state-wide network, and Google Fiber picked the Triangle as one of the few places where it continues to expand.
The importance of lightning-fast, low latency communications to Amazon and its ecommerce empire can't be overestimated.

Sixth, incentives
The General Assembly has carved out substantial funds to land a major project. The thinking has been "auto plant" for a megasite.
Now that money could be used as Amazon bait.

Seventh, logistics
With an ever-growing, increasingly modern Raleigh Durham International Airport, what better logistics could be offered for quick, drop ship, instant shopping demands?
As for rail, there's the looming CSX project near Rocky Mount - well connected to the Triangle by I-85 (which is being upgraded right now).
Then there also is the Global TransPark in Kinston.

Eighth, timeline
Amazon wants to move quickly. An alliance of RTP and state officials could get this project nailed down and moving in short order.

Ninth, culture fit
If there is a Seattle on the East Coast, isn't it RTP/Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill?

Tenth, quality of life
The Triangle consistently scores among the best places to live in surveys year after year. Think Amazon doesn't already know this?

[bluehorseshoe]

I just moved here from Seattle. Don't get your hopes up. Amazon management is very liberal and would not approve of the government here and rightly so. Also they expect ample public transportation for their employees something that is sorely lacking here. This place is a big suburb they are going for more urban, my guess would be somewhere in NYC.