BILLION-DOLLAR PRIZE
Toronto among hopefuls looking for expected economic boost of $5B (U.S.)
Amazon reveals 238 offers from prospective hosts of HQ2,
The tally is in: Amazon received 238 proposals from cities, states, districts and territories interested in hosting the company’s second headquarters.
The online retail giant published a map Monday showing that bids came from D.C. and all but seven U.S. states — Arkansas, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming — as well as from most of southern Canada, three regions of Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Last month, Amazon announced it wanted to open a second North American headquarters, setting off a scramble among economic development officials from the United States, Canada, including Toronto, and Mexico eager for as many as 50,000 jobs and $5 billion (U.S.) of investment the company says it plans to make in another city.
Seattle-based Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, launched the search for “HQ2” by publishing its criteria online. Bezos issued a statement saying he expected the new location “to be a full equal to our Seattle headquarters. Amazon HQ2 will bring billions of dollars in upfront and ongoing investments, and tens of thousands of high-paying jobs. We’re excited to find a second home.”
If Amazon fulfils its plan to add
“Amazon HQ2 will bring billions of dollars in upfront and ongoing investments.” JEFF BEZOS AMAZON FOUNDER
50,000 jobs and eight million square feet of office space in another city, it will amount to the largest corporate move in decades, though the company plans to maintain its current base. Some governors and mayors have already begun floating subsidies of as much as $7 billion while others have filmed online videos or launched marketing campaigns. On Thursday, the day bids were due, buildings around New York City were lit orange to match the company’s logo.
The next step is for Amazon’s realestate team to sort through the bids and decide which proposals to consider more closely. It plans to make a decision early next year.
However, urban policy analysts have warned that jurisdictions ought to tread lightly when offering single corporations large subsidies, arguing that investing in workforce, education and transportation tends to be a better bet for economic growth. To accommodate the company’s growth in Seattle, taxpayers funded hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements, although Amazon directly contributed $30 billion to the local economy.
Affordable-housing advocates point to spikes in rents in Seattle as evidence that bidding cities ought to prepare for rising housing costs if Amazon decides to locate thousands of highly paid employees there.