Amazon HQ2

[We vs us]

Amazon's planning to build a 2nd HQ in North America.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/07/amaz...h-america.html

Amazon said it would prioritize bids from metropolitan areas with more than one million people; regions that provide a "stable and business-friendly environment"; urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent; and communities that "think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options."

Amazon said the location does not have to be an urban or downtown campus; a similar layout to Amazon's Seattle campus; or a development-prepped site.

That sounds like it could be, might be, maybe in the future might sort of be a place like Austin. Right?

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by We vs us

Amazon's planning to build a 2nd HQ in North America.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/07/amaz...h-america.html



That sounds like it could be, might be, maybe in the future might sort of be a place like Austin. Right?

You beat me to it. That will be a major boost to some lucky city - much bigger than a Tesla gigafactory and Foxconn combined. Austin better step up its game and make a major effort for it. We have a leg up like the article states with some Amazon corporate jobs and that grocery story thing.

[PartyLine]

Originally Posted by The ATX

You beat me to it. That will be a major boost to some lucky city - much bigger than a Tesla gigafactory and Foxconn combined. Austin better step up its game and make a major effort for it. We have a leg up like the article states with some Amazon corporate jobs and that grocery story thing.

Looks like Austin and Texas is going for it.

http://www.512tech.com/technology/ch...45GfsQoGi9FTM/

[hookem]

Originally Posted by We vs us

Amazon's planning to build a 2nd HQ in North America.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/07/amaz...h-america.html



That sounds like it could be, might be, maybe in the future might sort of be a place like Austin. Right?

It's gonna take a hefty incentive package, both on the state and local level. Funny they don't mention that in their description of their desired location.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by hookem

It's gonna take a hefty incentive package, both on the state and local level. Funny they don't mention that in their description of their desired location.

That would be the "business-friendly environment"


https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....516043504_.pdf

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by We vs us

That sounds like it could be, might be, maybe in the future might sort of be a place like Austin. Right?

It could be. Here's something from GeekWire:

Six cities Amazon should consider for its second headquarters

Austin: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has deep roots in Texas, where family ancestors operated a massive ranch, and his Blue Origin space venture launches rockets. We expect multiple cities in the Lone Star state to make a bid for Amazon, but Austin seems like the best fit. It’s home to the University of Texas, which means Amazon could mine the Longhorns for top talent. It’s also an impressive tech center (with companies such as Dell, HomeAway and RackSpace) and a desirable place to live. More than 68,000 people worked in Austin’s burgeoning tech economy in 2016, including more than 25,000 in software development. And don’t forget that Amazon just bought a little grocery chain based in Austin for $13.7 billion. Perhaps Whole Foods could form the basis of “HQ2” — as Amazon is calling its second corporate campus.

Update: An astute GeekWire reader noted that Amazon may choose another state, like Washington, that does not have an income tax which would make it attractive for people transferring out of Seattle and new talent. Texas — along with Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming — does not have an income tax.

The five other cities that GeekWire thinks Amazon should be looking at are Toronto, Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Atlanta.

[MichaelB]

This is Hilarious ! It really is like a bid for the olympics !

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

This is Hilarious ! It really is like a bid for the olympics !

I was joking that it's like the engagement ceremony from the movie "Coming to America"

I wonder if there are any cities willing to hop on one leg and bark like a dog to get it?

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

I was joking that it's like the engagement ceremony from the movie "Coming to America"

I wonder if there are any cities willing to hop on one leg and bark like a dog to get it?

" A Big Dog" Woof woof woof..... !!!! LOL!

[AustinGoesVertical]

Austin would seem to fit like a glove for this new headquarters. Vibrant growing tech city in a state with no income tax. Then consider is has social similarities to Seattle as well as an onslaught of cloud computing companies littered on "silicon hill" who Amazon likely does plenty of business with considering it's a huge facet of their operations. You've got The University of Texas a stones throw away, where Amazon would surely sink their line into to scoop up undergrads and MBAs from McCombs and the highly ranked computer science program. Entertainment for employees is bustling - good food, Colorado river, 6th street, 2nd street, Rainey, etc. There's no shortage of high end residential for employees to live in. Oh and I'd say Whole Foods being headquartered here is another big pro. Remember, Amazon bought Whole Foods not because they're interested in the grocery business. They wanted consumer data but these are also their ideas of distribution centers for their drones. I'd expect Austin to be the headquarters facilitating those operations. I'd say the downside is transportation but I think the Airport is large enough to suffice their needs and is adding more and more destinations (such as the non-stop flight to London) and the whole international terminal.

Statesmen site in the South Shore District is an obvious site but I think you could lease plenty of 600 Guadalupe and finance your own tower(s) on the post office site (skybridge anyone?) and then the old Travis County block could offer more space for a tower and green space (think extension of Republic Square Park).

I see many, many reasons for Austin to get this bid.

[MichaelB]

My guess is they already know where they want to be but they are looking to make cities completive about landing them.... thereby forcing the city of choice to make bigger concessions up front than anyone may have in a non competitive situation.

But that's just a guess! ;-)

[The ATX]

https://www.geekwire.com/2017/cities...judges-cities/

[the Genral]

I noticed that one of those dots is representing Small Springs, Wyoming, Pop 4. They probably have lots of available land for an 8 million sq ft campus.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by the Genral

I noticed that one of those dots is representing Small Springs, Wyoming, Pop 4. They probably have lots of available land for an 8 million sq ft campus.

One of those dots will get it.

[The ATX]

So far Southshore, Brackenridge and Broadmoor have been mentioned as possible campus sites. WCC bought the 156 acre 3M campus this summer, and it has 1,000,000 sq ft of office space already built. I haven't heard of any development plans for the site once 3M moves to their new Parmer location.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...-large-3m.html

[trilliondollarted]

After the talk last week of the city council thinking of backing out of the cities deal with the Domain I wonder if Amazon could have trust issues with any deal the city offers:

https://communityimpact.com/austin/c...in-developers/

[The ATX]

The Catalyst Project may be a good choice for an Amazon campus. AusTxDevelopment was the first to post about it on SSP a while back. It's 79 acres adjacent to the Oracle campus. Here's a quote from the paywall protected ABJ article that was posted on Reddit:

Nine million square feet of total development potential with building heights averaging between eight and 20 stories

Reddit post with link to ABJ article:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comm...ex_planned_on/

[The ATX]

Here's a re-post of AusTxDevelopment's info about the Catalyst project:





Here's the original post from May:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=203

[paul78701]

Originally Posted by The ATX

The Catalyst Project may be a good choice for an Amazon campus. AusTxDevelopment was the first to post about it on SSP a while back. It's 79 acres adjacent to the Oracle campus. Here's a quote from the paywall protected ABJ article that was posted on Reddit:



Reddit post with link to ABJ article:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comm...ex_planned_on/

CapMetro's Airport Flyer regularly goes right by there from the airport, down Riverside, to Congresss Ave, up into downtown, and up around the UT campus. I'm not sure if it exactly fits the bill for the public transportation that Amazon is looking for, but it's a start. At least it's something to work with.

[Sigaven]

Originally Posted by the Genral

I noticed that one of those dots is representing Small Springs, Wyoming, Pop 4. They probably have lots of available land for an 8 million sq ft campus.

I also see that the crater for the Mauna Loa volcano is interested in hosting Amazon HQ2. Mostly undeveloped land but I hear it's pretty hot real estate!!