Amazon locks in on NYC & Northern Virginia for HQ2 after year-long search

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion
After inviting offers from cities across the country in a high-profile bidding process, and whittling down the results, Amazon has finally settled on two locations for its new corporate headquarters, according to a report late Monday.

Amazon 4-start store in NYC
Amazon 4-star store in NYC


Citing sources familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reports Amazon has selected New York City and Northern Virginia as sites of its second and third headquarters. The Kindle-maker is expected to make the news official as early as Tuesday.

The news arrives after a year-long dog-and-pony show that saw Amazon move from 238 candidates down to 20 before closing in on a handful of finalists in recent weeks.

The e-commerce giant was expected to choose a single location for "HQ2," but instead decided to split the campus in order to attract more talent from different locations.

Cities from around the country put in their bids in attempts to woo Amazon, offering incentives from tax breaks to literally naming the city after the company.

Amazon itself brought many incentives to the table including a $5 billion budget and 50,000 new jobs. Among other factors, Amazon prioritized locations with more than a million people, stable and business-friendly environments, urban or suburban locals with potential to attract talent, and communities that think big creatively.

Amazon has been a hot topic in the news recently. Aside from the new campus(es), the company last week struck a deal with Apple to bring iPhones and iPads to its digital shelves in time for the holiday shopping season.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    randominternetpersonrandominternetperson Posts: 3,089member
    There has been quite a bit of talk about this since word got out last week.  One prominent academic has accused Amazon of a bait and switch.  Amazon promised tens of thousands of jobs for the winner, and the tax incentives were based on that.  Now each of the two "winners" will get approximately half the promised benefit (and half the hassles).  
    foregoneconclusionronn
  • Reply 2 of 14
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 932member
    Smart: keeps the leverage going as the nimby opposition lines up against the project as is happening in LIC as the plans get revealed. 
  • Reply 3 of 14
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,293member
    50,000 jobs -- at what pay rate? Some Amazon workers are so poorly paid that they are on welfare. Playing cities against each other for the best tax breaks may be perfectly legal, but it's pretty unethical -- particularly when the company is well aware of how fast and loose local politicians play with OPM.
    doozydozen
  • Reply 4 of 14
    curtis hannahcurtis hannah Posts: 1,833member
    Half their preselected locations were all there, this shouldn't be a surprise. I'm not sure why they are splitting between New York and D.C. area as they aren't necessarily a good pair. They are already close enough that most workers could move from one city to the other with relative ease. I guess they just wanted the two most prominent cities of the U.S. with New York on the size(access to most people) and D.C. as political influence.
  • Reply 5 of 14
    alanhalanh Posts: 75member
    And this is a news story on an Apple centric site because?????
  • Reply 6 of 14
    foregoneconclusionforegoneconclusion Posts: 2,678member
    Amazon is on the downhill run, IMO. They don't have as much of an advantage at online retail as they used to and the experience has declined as a result. Prime is now overpriced for what it is.
  • Reply 7 of 14
    goodbyeranchgoodbyeranch Posts: 246member
    foregoneconclusion said:
    Amazon is on the downhill run, IMO. They don't have as much of an advantage at online retail as they used to and the experience has declined as a result. Prime is now overpriced for what it is.

    For my $12.99, bypassing the post office, amazon lockers in my apartment complex and never, ever having to wander around a supermarket looking for some random household product more than pays for itself.
    techprod1gybeowulfschmidt
  • Reply 8 of 14
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    foregoneconclusion said:
    Amazon is on the downhill run, IMO. They don't have as much of an advantage at online retail as they used to and the experience has declined as a result. Prime is now overpriced for what it is.
    I like Prime for the video service. Even at $120/year it’s competitive with Netflix (as far as I’m concerned), then you add in the large library of streaming audio, free two-day shipping for purchases and a lot of other services and it’s not overpriced at all.
  • Reply 9 of 14
    techprod1gytechprod1gy Posts: 838member
    chasm said:
    50,000 jobs -- at what pay rate? Some Amazon workers are so poorly paid that they are on welfare. Playing cities against each other for the best tax breaks may be perfectly legal, but it's pretty unethical -- particularly when the company is well aware of how fast and loose local politicians play with OPM.
    Unemployment is low there are plenty of options.  If Amazon pay is so low then look elsewhere.  The "There is no other option" argument falls short present day.
  • Reply 10 of 14
    techprod1gytechprod1gy Posts: 838member
    foregoneconclusion said:
    Amazon is on the downhill run, IMO. They don't have as much of an advantage at online retail as they used to and the experience has declined as a result. Prime is now overpriced for what it is.
    Everyone is entitled to their opinion even if it is dead wrong.  If you are educated in business (actually running one) then you know that Amazon still has a huge lead in services and are very efficient.  They are also branching into different segments which will only build their portfolio.  Prime is priced great for all that you get (if you choose to)
    dewme
  • Reply 11 of 14
    spice-boyspice-boy Posts: 1,450member
    goodbyeranch said:
    foregoneconclusion said:
    Amazon is on the downhill run, IMO. They don't have as much of an advantage at online retail as they used to and the experience has declined as a result. Prime is now overpriced for what it is.

    For my $12.99, bypassing the post office, amazon lockers in my apartment complex and never, ever having to wander around a supermarket looking for some random household product more than pays for itself.
    Or interacting with other human beings, wow sounds awesome and depressing. 
  • Reply 12 of 14
    spice-boyspice-boy Posts: 1,450member
    I wish my fellow Americans would love small businesses as much as they idolize companies owned by billionaire. Shopping from Amazon or Apple won't make you wealthy if anything it is the opposite. Buy a bunch of stuff you don't really need but are desperate to have and no it won't really make you happy in the long run. The same mentality can be seen with big sports, yay "my" team won, I got to yell and scream, and high five my friends. The next day I'm still in the same spot and I reap non of the victor's spoils. 
    aka212
  • Reply 13 of 14
    aka212aka212 Posts: 4member
    spice-boy said:
    I wish my fellow Americans would love small businesses as much as they idolize companies owned by billionaire. Shopping from Amazon or Apple won't make you wealthy if anything it is the opposite. Buy a bunch of stuff you don't really need but are desperate to have and no it won't really make you happy in the long run. The same mentality can be seen with big sports, yay "my" team won, I got to yell and scream, and high five my friends. The next day I'm still in the same spot and I reap non of the victor's spoils. 
     I was driving past middle America over the weekend and stopped by a place to grab a bite to eat during sunday football. It was just crazy, no other way to describe it. 
  • Reply 14 of 14
    aka212aka212 Posts: 4member
    chasm said:
    50,000 jobs -- at what pay rate? Some Amazon workers are so poorly paid that they are on welfare. Playing cities against each other for the best tax breaks may be perfectly legal, but it's pretty unethical -- particularly when the company is well aware of how fast and loose local politicians play with OPM.
    Unemployment is low there are plenty of options.  If Amazon pay is so low then look elsewhere.  The "There is no other option" argument falls short present day.
    Right. Gotta love this libertarian view of the world. Go try to jump job after job in America, like the free market types propose. Then come tell me how it works out for you. 

    Big business has rigged the system here on all fronts, so anyone doing this becomes black listed. It's also why you have the h1b scam, where employees pretend they cannot find local labor, only to be sourced from a 3rd world country. Conveniently, at 1/4 the local or western rate.

    Also, the currently unemployment rate is BS, something reflected by stagnant wages. The good ole US of A doesn't count the long- term unemployment or basically anyone earning more than $60 a week. In fact, in most red states, you drop off the register after 6 months. Apparently, you're not "keen on work" if you haven't found a job within that period. 
    edited November 2018 ronn
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