https://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html/?node=17044620011



What are the odds that Dallas is selected? And if so, will Amazon select one of the downtown proposals or will the suburbs win again?

I wonder which of the myriad D/FW area bids is the one they actually selected?

If (still a big IF) it is Dallas, it'll be KDC's "Smart District" south of downtown

DMagazine's Details about Smart District from October

Amazon is not a suburban type company*. They hire young. Midtown (635/Montfort...Beck's venture, in conjunction with KDC) is a giant nightmare due to all the different pieces of land that would have to be parceled together.

* only caveat here is the UT-D site may have some legs due to proximity to schools and DART plus the new Cottonbelt line that will run right next door to it in 2022.

My money is on Denver.

wbt5845 said:

---

I wonder which of the myriad D/FW area bids is the one they actually selected?

---

From my understanding of reading the news about this shortlist announcement, they've selected "communities" or regions in the group of 20. I'm guessing that future announcements will be for exact locations within a city or region.

752bro4 said:

---

If (still a big IF) it is Dallas, it'll be KDC's "Smart District" south of downtown

DMagazine's Details about Smart District from October

Amazon is not a suburban type company*. They hire young. Midtown (635/Montfort...Beck's venture, in conjunction with KDC) is a giant nightmare due to all the different pieces of land that would have to be parceled together.

* only caveat here is the UT-D site may have some legs due to proximity to schools and DART plus the new Cottonbelt line that will run right next door to it in 2022.

---

If they picked that UTD location, I'd have to sell my house because I couldn't afford the taxes.

No way they go to the burbs.

CjAg said:

---

No way they go to the burbs.

---

I would love for the UTD site to land HQ2, but I agree with CJAg. All indicators are that they want to be urban.

I think the chief competitor for DFW would be Austin and all the liberal sips.

LewP said:

---

I think the chief competitor for DFW would be Austin and all the liberal sips.

---

Part of the criteria was an international airport for ease of traveling. Austin fallls short there.

I think it will be either Atlanta or Denver. DFW probably in top 5, though.

It will be in DFW and will have a sales and use tax exemption for the entire State of Texas. Colorado and Georgia don't have enough amazon customers to make it worth while. DC area another option with a multi state exemption. Amazon will need to lobby a lot to stay off the DoJ radar for monopoly status.

CjAg said:

---

No way they go to the burbs.

---

I bet they end up in Washington's VA burbs, want to be close to the government but don't want to deal with the DC nonsense.

Austin is my second pick.

I wish they'd go downtown Fort Worth...... plenty of empty buildings once XTO leaves unfortunately.

Hoping they go the UTD route so it drives up the price for my ghetto Canyon Creek property.

Texker said:

---

Hoping they go the UTD route so it drives up the price for my ghetto Canyon Creek property.

---

Ha! I had a ghetto Canyon Creek property as well! One of the condos on the corner of Custer and Lookout. Bought it in 2005 when I was single and sold in 2007 after getting married. I really liked that location!

Betting odds... no huge favorite

Better half used to work at Corporate and is friends with a prominent Legal Exec there "in the know" who's advised that Dallas will not land it....FWIW.

YouBet said:

---

It won't bother me at all if Dallas doesn't get it. We are already growing at a ridiculous rate.

---

Gagree

Theres enough jobs here already and too many transplants. It already takes an hour to get from east dallas to west dallas as it is.

robertf03 said:

---

YouBet said:

---

It won't bother me at all if Dallas doesn't get it. We are already growing at a ridiculous rate.

---

Gagree

Theres enough jobs here already and too many transplants. It already takes an hour to get from east dallas to west dallas as it is.

---

Haven't heard that one in a long time.

The Politics board can enlighten you on the transplants.

Put it up in McKinney. Half of DFW lives that far north now.

AgBlitz said:

---

Better half used to work at Corporate and is friends with a prominent Legal Exec there "in the know" who's advised that Dallas will not land it....FWIW.

---

Wow. That means Mckinney has to be the favorite!

PlanoAg98 said:

---

Put it up in McKinney. Half of DFW lives that far north now.

---

Yes please. 380 doesn't have enough traffic on it.

Being on the east coast is their single most important factor. DFW, Austin and Den all have less than a 5% chance.

Quote:

---

Being on the east coast is their single most important factor.

---

Why is this? I can understand they don't want it on the west coast. However, Dallas is 2100 miles from Seattle and Atlanta is only 500 more (2600 miles).

Its just their preference and one if the main purpose of an HQ2. Now if they where just moving HQ1 those 3 would probably be leading candidates.

I have seen nothing that indicates being on the east coast is the primary purpose. In fact, Amazon has been pretty close to the vest regarding any information on HQ2, Here's what they've said in the original RFP.

Quote:

---

In choosing the location for HQ2, Amazon has a preference for:

• Metropolitan areas with more than one million people
• A stable and business-friendly environment
• Urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent
• Communities that think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options

HQ2 could be, but does not have to be:

• An urban or downtown campus
• A similar layout to Amazon's Seattle campus
• A development-prepped site. We want to encourage states/provinces and communities to think
• creatively for viable real estate options, while not negatively affecting our preferred timeline

---

Here's a link to hte RFP, if you're interested: HQ2 RFP

Who would be considered "business friendly" on the east coast compared to say Texas?

You certainly can't say northeast unless they are just going to get a flat out tax free offer. That would mean ATL or CLT then?

I saw a headline yesterday that seemed to suggest the odds on favorite was ATL

walton91 said:

---

I saw a headline yesterday that seemed to suggest the odds on favorite was ATL

---

That has always been my prediction.

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

I saw a headline yesterday that seemed to suggest the odds on favorite was ATL

---

That has always been my prediction.

---

I think Atlanta has some better spots for a downtown location than Dallas does. Where urban area near downtown could house a facility for 50,000 employees? Also, it would need to be on the DART path. I think Oak Cliff might be an option. Traffic would be a bear though. Other than that, Richardson would be the next possible but that's not really downtown.

There is actually a lot of available space in downtown Dallas. Between city hall and I-30, from the convention center to the Farmers Market, there is a whole lot of nothing. The DMN had a story a couple weeks ago of a potential developer who wanted that section for a huge development that I want to say would accommodate 50,000 employees in several towers. If Dallas was really smart and forward thinking (its not) they would tear down the convention center and put that land to some real use with actual roi. Also, given that one of the dreams of everyone is to bury and deck I-30 through downtown, you could include the Cedars in the plan, just on the other side of 30. That's all on or near transit lines (including the future D2, and high speed rail terminal). Of course all of that would require a city with an actual vision

I said it before but the other great option is to kick the State Fair out and turn that whole property into Amazon HQ2. You might even be able to get a second employer out there if you planned it right. And it has DART service to the front door.

It would immediately revitalize the entire area. But this will never happen because for some reason we value the 20 days per year of the state fair so much. The biggest waste of property in Texas.

Some new info on what's been offered to them by other communities. From the Dallas Observer:

Quote:

---

Raleigh, North Carolina, has offered to chip in $50 million for construction, plus every person who gets a job as a result of HQ/2 coming to Raleigh will get a 100 percent rebate of all North Carolina state income taxes for 25 years. Plus, somebody will pay Amazon $5,000 for every new job it creates. Somebody rich, I guess. So, wow, who could beat that?

Denver could. It's offering $100 million, plus-plus-plus the other stuff, too. Who could beat that?

Los Angeles. $300 million to $1 billion on a sliding scale.Who could beat Los Angeles?

Atlanta: $1 billion, no slide, just come and get it. How do you beat that?

Chicago, $1.7 billion.
Columbus, Ohio, $2.3 billion.
Philadelphia, $2 billion to $3 billion, sliding scale.
But better: Montgomery County, Maryland, $5 billion plus tax cuts, no slide, come and get it.

If you're Newark, what does it take to get somebody to spend the night at your house? Seven billion dollars.

---