Amazon seeks second, $5 billion headquarters

[PacificNW]

http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-fo...art_river_home

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/07/tech...ies/index.html


Imagine what they could with those undeveloped Lloyd District blocks... Or, as suggested in another thread, the Post Office Handling Facility next to the Pearl District.

[innovativethinking]

Ohh they'd be totally damned to come here

[urbanlife]

Are they even looking in the Northwest? I would imagine they would be looking for elsewhere in the US, like the east coast.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Are they even looking in the Northwest? I would imagine they would be looking for elsewhere in the US, like the east coast.

My thoughts exactly.

Obviously, Amazon isn't just looking for a place to plop a campus. They have to also be looking for logistics.

The east coast makes sense. Perhaps somewhere in the south, like Kentucky. Or the SW - especially Texas. Dallas or San Antonio could be a good fit - or even El Paso, which might fit the 1,000,000 metro pop cutoff depending on how it's calculated.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

My thoughts exactly.

Obviously, Amazon isn't just looking for a place to plop a campus. They have to also be looking for logistics.

The east coast makes sense. Perhaps somewhere in the south, like Kentucky. Or the SW - especially Texas. Dallas or San Antonio could be a good fit - or even El Paso, which might fit the 1,000,000 metro pop cutoff depending on how it's calculated.

My guess is they are gonna pick someplace liberal, urban, and has a good rail transit system. Granted, liberal means just about any healthy urban city in the US.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

My guess is they are gonna pick someplace liberal, urban, and has a good rail transit system. Granted, liberal means just about any healthy urban city in the US.

Interesting. I wasn't thinking that way at all. I assume they'll look for a place with great air and rail routes, where they'd have the potential to build their own campus outside of a town that's active enough to not suck for employees. Fort Worth could be good, come to think of it.

I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon already has a site in mind but wants to create the sense of competition in order to get more incentives. But who knows.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

Interesting. I wasn't thinking that way at all. I assume they'll look for a place with great air and rail routes, where they'd have the potential to build their own campus outside of a town that's active enough to not suck for employees. Fort Worth could be good, come to think of it.

I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon already has a site in mind but wants to create the sense of competition in order to get more incentives. But who knows.

Knowing Amazon, I bet you are right.

[Mr. Walch]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

Interesting. I wasn't thinking that way at all. I assume they'll look for a place with great air and rail routes, where they'd have the potential to build their own campus outside of a town that's active enough to not suck for employees. Fort Worth could be good, come to think of it.

I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon already has a site in mind but wants to create the sense of competition in order to get more incentives. But who knows.

There RFP suggests that they want an urban campus like they have in Seattle and not the old style cloistered corporate campus. As I am sure you all have seen from visiting Seattle, their offices are very urban and mixed into the city. They have also avoided providing cafeterias. I have heard that its part of their philosophy that they want people out interacting with the city.

[pdxtraveler]

I know PDX is a long shot. Also it might excellerate our affordability issues. But the benefits are fascinating to think about. Huge transformation. My first thought was Zidell and OMSI combined. However as soon as I saw PacificNW's post I knew he was right, Lloyd District is perfect!!! So much to work with from 84 to Broadway and the mall to 5. It could be amazing.

[colganc]

Post office redevelopment would be really cool. not too far from PDX by MAX. Cascades with a few upgrades could give interesting connections to Seattle. Doesn't seem to match with the 100 acres, but otherwise could be great.

They must not care too much about geographic location as a risk reduction, I didn't see anything about that in the RFP. There didn't seem to be anything about timezones and advantages to workig with Asia or Europe either.

Why not play up the close proximity of Portland to Seattle? An easy sell for many logistical items and worker relocations or even working together timezone wise.

[bvpcvm]

The NYT narrows down the possibilities

Spoiler alert: The NYT considers Portland a top contender, but ultimately decides it's too close to Seattle.

[justrmor]

Austin or Washington DC (NOVA) are my guess.

Portland is too close. It doesn't make sense to me. But who knows.

[colganc]

Originally Posted by justrmor

Austin or Washington DC (NOVA) are my guess.

Portland is too close. It doesn't make sense to me. But who knows.

I don't know why proximity would mean it makes less sense, I would think it helps the case (depending on the original reasons for doing this at all, of course)

[HillsboroTech]

Originally Posted by colganc

I don't know why proximity would mean it makes less sense, I would think it helps the case (depending on the original reasons for doing this at all, of course)

Yeah, Intel chose to expand in Portland because they wanted their offices to be close to their HQ due to the significant amount of travel between the two locations. It makes sense to be a quick plane ride away (potentially hyper loop as well) for Amazon. There is going to be so much travel between the two locations that I think the short trip may outweigh the benefits of moving to a new region.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by HillsboroTech

Yeah, Intel chose to expand in Portland because they wanted their offices to be close to their HQ due to the significant amount of travel between the two locations. It makes sense to be a quick plane ride away (potentially hyper loop as well) for Amazon. There is going to be so much travel between the two locations that I think the short trip may outweigh the benefits of moving to a new region.

That is an interesting way to look at it, you might be onto something. My guess is the cost of building in Seattle with the limited amount of space is starting to get to be too much and having a second headquarters elsewhere, but a short plane ride away would make sense. Though the NYT article does a pretty good breakdown that makes it sound like it will probably end up in Denver.

[bvpcvm]

Hmmm. Well, flight time SEA-PDX is 45 minutes, SEA-DEN is 2.5 hrs. That's three times longer.

On the other hand, Seattle and Portland are vulnerable to the same natural hazards. When the CSZ quake hits, both cities are toast. On the OTHER other hand, that's about it for natural hazards. No hurricanes here, and the PNW is more isolated from climate change.

[colganc]

Originally Posted by bvpcvm

Hmmm. Well, flight time SEA-PDX is 45 minutes, SEA-DEN is 2.5 hrs. That's three times longer.

On the other hand, Seattle and Portland are vulnerable to the same natural hazards. When the CSZ quake hits, both cities are toast. On the OTHER other hand, that's about it for natural hazards. No hurricanes here, and the PNW is more isolated from climate change.

Still fun for me to think about a billion or so in further upgrades for the Cascades and a 2 hour express train. Walk 2 minutes from HQ2 to Union Station, hop on the express train for Seattle. 2 hours later you're at King Street and a short final hop to HQ1. Maybe even faster than taking a plane? A much nicer experience overall as well.

Maybe there would be even less need for the ultimate build out of space if its in Portland. Being closer to HQ1 would give more options in moving different business units and at different time scales. Like back offices for large organizations in "world cities" that exist on easy subway trips, HQ2 could be a similar idea if its in Portland.

Even if the post office site wasn't available right away, Amazon could lease (more) space from the nearby office buildings to hold them over until their buildings really get underway? Is the upzoning that probably is required (base on posts from above) even possible?

[mhays]

It's unclear what they value. Is it purely about capacity as Seattle gets more full and expensive, which might favor a nearby city? Is it a way to recruit people who won't come to Seattle which might favor an "opposite"? Is it more about public policy, and does that mean getting in with a red state? Is being bi-coastal important? Is federal policy making Canada attractive?

It sounds like NYT and others are guessing based on the RFP questions. Without knowing the priorities it seems like guesswork.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by colganc

Still fun for me to think about a billion or so in further upgrades for the Cascades and a 2 hour express train. Walk 2 minutes from HQ2 to Union Station, hop on the express train for Seattle. 2 hours later you're at King Street and a short final hop to HQ1. Maybe even faster than taking a plane? A much nicer experience overall as well.

Maybe there would be even less need for the ultimate build out of space if its in Portland. Being closer to HQ1 would give more options in moving different business units and at different time scales. Like back offices for large organizations in "world cities" that exist on easy subway trips, HQ2 could be a similar idea if its in Portland.

Even if the post office site wasn't available right away, Amazon could lease (more) space from the nearby office buildings to hold them over until their buildings really get underway? Is the upzoning that probably is required (base on posts from above) even possible?

It would be awesome if something like this was used to link the two cities together via high speed rail, which it would probably jumpstart a regional commuter rail in the Willamette Valley.

[HillsboroTech]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

It would be awesome if something like this was used to link the two cities together via high speed rail, which it would probably jumpstart a regional commuter rail in the Willamette Valley.

I think this has great potential to jumpstart a hyperloop connection. The one currently proposed claims it will be able to travel from Portland to Seattle in 17 minutes.