Amazon Looking For 2nd City to Open Secondary HQ (Seattle: real estate, houses)

[jm31828]

https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/07/am...al-to-seattle/

Interesting, I thought Amazon was all in on growing as much as they need to here in Seattle. Is it just a matter of their HQ growth plans are too big for Seattle to handle as far as finding enough talent so they need to spread that out a bit? Sad in a way to see that growth in Seattle will be curtailed at some point as new growth will be added in another city down the road!

[notnamed]

You can be certain that real estate investors will hit that city hard too once announced.

[jakebarnes]

I would imagine once they establish a 2nd HQ they will start demanding tax breaks from Seattle and Washington State. How are we going to say no when they are such a huge employer?

Also, maybe their mid-level employees want to own a house someday. It probably ain't happening here. I've had offers in SF and I always say no, because I don't want to pay that much to live in the Bay Area. I think we are approaching a similar situation here. Too bad.

[Ruth4Truth]

I think it's smart for huge businesses that end up choking off cities and entire regions (the Bay Area comes to mind) with their presence, to spin off satellite locations in other states. This spreads the wealth, so to speak--spreads the job growth around, and minimizes the negative effects of real estate skyrocketing, traffic congestion, and other issues that arise.

I also think that cities slated to be on the receiving end of this growth phenomenon should think twice about whether they even want that. What if Amazon chose Bellingham? It would ruin the city and the beauty of the region. Does Bellingham need jobs? Definitely. Does it need to be overwhelmed by a mega-provider of jobs? That's a different question. What small, scenic towns like that need, is moderate job growth, not something that would overwhelm the area.

One good example of this is Boeing; Boeing is divided between Everett and Federal Way, plus they have another division around Kansas City somewhere. It works for them. Seattle gets jobs, and KC gets jobs.

[Hacker1234]

Wonder where they will go, Boston and Chicago sound cool.

[homesinseattle]

I have a sneaking feeling Chicago is right near the top. Fun place with many cultural options, educated populace, attractive to relocating workers. Lower cost of living.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

I have a sneaking feeling Chicago is right near the top. Fun place with many cultural options, educated populace, attractive to relocating workers. Lower cost of living.

Aren't a lot of the Amazon jobs warehouse jobs, though? They don't really need a huge population of educated workers, or am I wrong? I'm sure they need techies, but you can find at least a few of those almost anywhere, and others are willing to relocate, usually.

[homesinseattle]

Ruth, they have warehouses all over the place, spots like Lenoir, NC. I think what they are talking about here is another large corporate campus, integrated jobs very much like Seattle.

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

Ruth, they have warehouses all over the place, spots like Lenoir, NC. I think what they are talking about here is another large corporate campus, integrated jobs very much like Seattle.

Yep, they are talking about another headquarters, full of development and management positions.

[perigee]

My best guess either Texas or one of the Carolinas, all of them experiencing an uptick in corporations moving there, which means they are cutting tax deals and they can boast, at least compared to CA or Seattle, a lower COL and weekend beach access. I couldn't handle the humidity, but a lot of people like the beaches along the gulf or the Atlantic.

The question becomes how soon will this cool the Seattle housing market?