Is San Diego a candidate for Amazon's #2 HQ? (Los Angeles, San Francisco: how much, university)

[Losfrisco]

We were the only city outside Seattle that had an Amazon bookstore, Fresh came here when it was only available in much bigger metros. We just got the Treasure Truck.

[LaJollaEast]

Do you think Amazon would put HQ2 in the same time zone as HQ1? It would be nice to see something like this come to San Diego since so many other companies have left.

[Losfrisco]

Originally Posted by LaJollaEast

Do you think Amazon would put HQ2 in the same time zone as HQ1? It would be nice to see something like this come to San Diego since so many other companies have left.

Their criteria is really vague-a metro of at least 1 million within 45 minutes of an airport. That could be anywhere.

Looking at the things I laid out, it does seem that Amazon favors San Diego as some kind of test market. When I went to Seattle a few years ago, I was surprised how much it had in common with San Diego. The only argument I can think of for them to come here is that they already seem to know the lay of the land, it's a place that will keep and attract people, and they would save money on office space compared to some other places.

Their booming film and television business suggests Los Angeles (or a dark horse, my hometown Pittsburgh), but who knows. The Midwest seems like what they're hinting at.

[Axxlrod]

Nah. As much as I'd love for it to be here in SD, I doubt it.

I'd guess Atlanta area or Raleigh-Durham triangle.

[loveautumn]

California is very tax unfriendly to corporations, so I doubt it and we already have such a strong identity in this state with Silicon Valley. I think they would want someplace either Texas or southern state. But criteria includes one million in population, access to international airport and strong university presence. Whichever city gets it will put it on the map big time.

[oddstray]

AFAIK, Amazon doesn't pay it's employees enough to afford San Diego rents. So I'd be amazed if they build a headquarters or even a warehouse here.

[snpdragr]

I interviewed at Amazon a while ago and from talking with other colleagues my impression is that they have no problem matching/competing with Bay Area salaries. Plus there's no state income tax.

Admittedly this was a few years ago and I'm out of the loop now.

[sprez33]

Originally Posted by Losfrisco

Their criteria is really vague-a metro of at least 1 million within 45 minutes of an airport. That could be anywhere.

Looking at the things I laid out, it does seem that Amazon favors San Diego as some kind of test market. When I went to Seattle a few years ago, I was surprised how much it had in common with San Diego. The only argument I can think of for them to come here is that they already seem to know the lay of the land, it's a place that will keep and attract people, and they would save money on office space compared to some other places.

Their booming film and television business suggests Los Angeles (or a dark horse, my hometown Pittsburgh), but who knows. The Midwest seems like what they're hinting at.

Agree with this. However, likely the biggest drawback to San Diego would be the availability of open space for a campus to support 50,000 people. Look at the size of the Illumina campus and they don't even have 10,000 employees (yet).

I would bet on a Rust Belt city that is undergoing a rebirth as a tech center, such as KC or Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh in general has an under-utilized airport. Though tax breaks are ultimately likely to win the day.

My $0.02.

[Losfrisco]

Originally Posted by sprez33

Agree with this. However, likely the biggest drawback to San Diego would be the availability of open space for a campus to support 50,000 people. Look at the size of the Illumina campus and they don't even have 10,000 employees (yet).

I would bet on a Rust Belt city that is undergoing a rebirth as a tech center, such as KC or Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh in general has an under-utilized airport. Though tax breaks are ultimately likely to win the day.

My $0.02.

San Diego is like 330 square miles and most people are hard pressed to name ONE big corporate hq here. San Francisco is 48 square miles.....Dropbox, Pinterest, Uber, Lyft, Salesforce, Gap, AirBnb, Yelp, Mozilla, Reddit, Twitter, Craigslist etc .etc. etc.




Another thing potentially holding San Diego back in this (if a bid is even submitted) is our airport.

[sprez33]

More on the topic.....

San Diego to bid for Amazon's HQ2 second headquarters location - The San Diego Union-Tribune