All the Amazon HQ2 finalists, including Columbus, could gain from process
Regardless of how each of the 20 metro areas fare in their bids to become the site of Amazon’s second headquarters, is there a chance all of them could be a winner?
It’s a thought that’s gaining momentum.
Some experts believe that just making Amazon’s list of 20 finalists already is turning heads in global economic-development circles, and one expert believes the company has some kind of project in mind for the cities that come up short.
“These are 20 communities. Some are really interesting for a headquarters, some for other things,” said Richard Florida, an urban studies professor at the University of Toronto and a former Columbus resident. “Columbus could be a massive logistics and distribution facility, a research hub tied to Ohio State.”
“You guys are now on the radar screen. You’re getting global exposure by being on the list,” said K.C. Conway, chief economist for the commercial real-estate group CCIM Institute and director of research at the Alabama Center for Real Estate at the University of Alabama.
Amazon said last fall that it plans to develop a second headquarters and invited every metro area in North America with at least 1 million people to compete for what would be a worldchanging prize for most cities: a $5 billion investment that will create 50,000 highpaying jobs. The winning city is expected to be chosen later this year with operations starting next year.
The announcement generated headlines across the country and created a mad dash by cities wanting to show they were worthy of Amazon’s consideration. Some have offered billions of dollars in incentives. Ultimately, 238 metro areas submitted bids to Amazon, including many that didn’t even meet Amazon’s demand of having at least 1 million people.
“Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough — all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity,” Amazon executive Holly Sullivan said when the finalists were announced. “Through this process we learned about many new communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation.”
Florida, who assisted Toronto on its bid and Kansas City on its failed bid, said the list of 20 finalists includes smaller cities, such as Columbus, that really don’t make sense to be a headquarters city for Amazon, and that’s why he believes that Amazon has other projects in mind for them. He also believes the lack of international flights hurts Columbus.
“You have to view the whole competition through a different lens other than a search for a new headquarters,”said Florida, who also has urged cities to limit the incentives offered to Amazon for the project.
Irrespective of what happens with the project that has been dubbed HQ2, Columbus is in a sweet spot for corporate site selections based on the criteria that Amazon is using to chose its second headquarters, Conway said.
“The legacy of the Amazon HQ2 search will be less about which (metro area) prevailed and more about how it was a watershed moment in how and why companies make site selection decisions,” he said.
Amazon’s move to build a second headquarters is the most noteworthy business expansion since Walt Disney’s decision to build a new theme park in Florida after