Denver makes finalist list – along with 19 others
As abruptly as Amazon announced in September that it was hunting for a place to build a second full-sized headquarters, the Seattle conglomerate on Thursday announced 20 cities that made it to the next level, including Denver.
The city’s was one of 238 proposals submitted to Amazon, which said it would invest $5 billion to build a second campus in North America. It needed a future site that could house around 50,000 employees in about 8 million square feet — the size of Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle.
“We are absolutely excited to have made the shortlist. The work continues,” said Sam Bailey, who oversaw the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.’s effort.
Bailey said that Amazon’s economic development team notified his staff early Thursday morning.
“The email was four sentences, thanking us for the submission, discussing the next steps and a focus on learning about the community, the talent and potential real estate,” Bailey said.
He expects to begin discussions with Amazon no later than next week. At this point, whether the process becomes confidential will be up to Amazon. The state kept its HQ2 bid confidential, but after enormous public interest and a Colorado Open Records Act request by The Denver Post and Denver7, the state released a redacted version of
its bid, which kept financial figures and locations confidential.
“I think our approach really focused on what was most valuable, and that was telling the Colorado story. We didn’t include other states or diminish their proposals, because we didn’t want to waste time,” Bailey said. “We feel confident that the pillars, the places, the talent, the local and global access and the way business is supported in Colorado really told the right story.”
In September, Colorado quickly hunkered down to come up with its bid by working with Metro Denver. The state put together one bid, offering up at least eight sites in the Denver area that met Amazon’s criteria. The state also offered potential financial incentives that could exceed $100 million (others have offered quite a bit more). It included 22 other sites that also could interest Amazon for additional office or warehouse locations.
Of the 20 sites Amazon announced, many are on the East Coast, a region that many — including Gov. John Hickenlooper — have speculated is where Amazon really wants its HQ2 to be. Those sites include Boston, where Amazon is reportedly looking for 1 million square feet of office space; Newark, N.J., which offered the company $7 billion in incentives; and Toronto, which touted that software programmers earn 34 to 38 percent less than those in Boston or New York.
Los Angeles was the only West Coast city to make the shortlist, even though Seattle gave it a go.
Between the coasts, a handful of smaller cities that made the list include Columbus, Ohio; Nashville, Tenn.; and Indianapolis. But big ones, including New York, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and Miami, also made the cut. Austin, Texas, which often competes with Denver for talent and corporate headquarters relocations, also is on the list. Some notable cities not on the list: Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit and San Diego.
“That was disappointing,” said Bill Mosher, a senior managing director at Trammell Crow Co. in Denver. “Narrowing it down to 20 is not really narrowing it down.”
However, Mosher said he’s glad Denver made the first cut.
“It’s good PR for them and for us,” he said. “This will keep them in the news and keep Denver in the news.”
Colorado’s technology community has rallied behind the state’s effort to win Amazon and created a website, ColoradoLovesAmazon.com, with locals posting videos about what’s so great about the area.
“I can tell you from personal experience that Denver is a tech market to invest in,” said Scott Heimes, chief marketing officer of SendGrid, a home-grown company that went public last year. “For years, people have been calling the Denver/Boulder tech scene the next ‘Silicon Valley,’ but Colorado has developed its own, distinct culture and personality to become a competitive market for innovation by putting relationships, mentorship and education first. Its spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation is truly contagious.”
Hickenlooper shared his sentiment on Twitter: “It’s great to be on Amazon’s list of finalists as they consider the location of their second headquarters. Colorado is one of the most business- friendly states in America, and we believe the Denver region would be a great choice for Amazon’s second location!”
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said: “We are proud that metro Denver is being increasingly recognized as one of the nation’s most innovative, progressive regions with global connectivity that is helping home-grown businesses and major industries thrive here. Our economic gains have been some of the strongest in the country, and companies of all shapes and sizes are discovering that Denver’s workforce is second to none.”
In its announcement, the company said it evaluated each proposal based on its request. It will work with each city in the coming months “to dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership that can accommodate the company’s hiring plans as well as benefit its employees and the local community,” according to an Amazon statement.
“Thank you to all 238 communities that submitted proposals. Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough — all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity,” Holly Sullivan, an Amazon public policy executive, said in a statement. “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.”
Amazon said it will make a decision this year.