Why not Uganda? Amazon HQ2
Amazon HQ2
It's Amazon's headquarters building in Crystal City, Arlington near Washington, DC
And is an extension of the company's headquarters in Seattle, Washington.
In September 2017, Amazon submitted applications to governments and economic development organizations for tax benefits and other incentives for expanding the company's Seattle headquarters.
Amazon has claimed that it intends to spend $ 5 billion on construction and that the building will house 50,000 workers when completed. More than 200 cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States eventually offered tax breaks, expedited building permits, promises of infrastructure improvements, new crime reduction programs and other incentives. On January 18, 2018, a short list of 20 finalists was announced, after which the candidate localities continued to detail or expand their incentive packages.
On November 13, 2018, Amazon announced that the building would be split into two locations, with 25,000 employees each: in Arlington County, Virginia, and Long Island City in Queens, New York. Virginia will provide $ 573 million in tax breaks, $ 23 million in cash and other incentives. New York plans to give Amazon tax breaks of at least $ 1.525 billion, cash grants of $ 325 million and other incentives. In February 2019, Amazon canceled the location in New York after fierce opposition from local organizers, residents and politicians. The project has been criticized in many cities as an example of corporate welfare.
Background
Amazon was founded in 1994 in Bellevue, Washington, and moved to rented space in a neighborhood in Seattle. As the company grew, it went through a series of office transitions across downtown Seattle, until it announced a move to a dedicated headquarters campus in the South Lake Union neighborhood, then a light industrial enclave that underwent urban renewal. As of 2017, Amazon occupies 8.1 million square feet (750,000 square feet) of office space in 33 buildings in Seattle, and employs 40,000 white-collar workers.
Requirements
Amazon's request for bids added some core requirements, as well as optional preferences:
Metropolitan areas with a population of over one million
Within 30 miles (48 km) of Population Center
Within 45 minutes from international airport
Proximity to main highways and arterial roads 1-3 miles (2-5 km)
Access to mass transit routes
Up to 8 million square feet (740,000 square meters) of office space for future expansion
Optional preferences included airports with direct flights to Seattle, New York City, San Francisco Washington, D.C., urban locations and proximity to major universities.
price offers
As of October 23, 2017, 238 bids were submitted and accepted by Amazon, representing cities and regions from 54 countries, counties and territories. The only states in the United States that did not have a officially submitted locality were Arkansas, Hawaii, Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. The Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Saskatchewan also had no bidding areas, along with the Yukon Territory.
At the same time an analysis of the metropolitan areas that submitted bids was published and determined that Austin, Texas, is ranked the highest among Amazon's criteria, followed by Atlanta, Philadelphia and Rochester, New York. The New York Times found that Denver was the best site based on Amazon's criteria, followed by Washington DC and Boston.
Promotional campaigns
Several cities and groups have promoted their quotes by engaging in campaigns and gimmicks, including offers and gifts to Amazon. An economic development company in Tucson, Arizona, has sent a 21-foot-high Cactus Saguaro to Amazon in an attempt to advance the city's offer. The gift was rejected due to the company's corporate gift policy, instead donating it to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. The city of Stonecrest, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, voted to abolish the annexation of 345 acres (140 acres) of land so that Amazon would establish its own city called Amazon around its headquarters.
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Sly James, the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, purchased 1,000 products from Amazon, which he donated to charity. James wrote 5-star reviews for each, each review mentioning positive features of Kansas City. A chain of Pittsburgh-based sandwich shops has offered free sandwiches to Amazon employees if they choose the city as their second headquarters.
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The city of Birmingham, Alabama has set up some huge Amazon pillars. New York Mayor Bill de Bellasio has announced that major city landmarks will be lit in orange to promote the campaign.
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A group from Calgary spray-painted sidewalk notices in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle and urged the company to choose them. During an Ottawa Senator hockey game, fans were encouraged to “make noise” for Ottawa City’s Amazon offer.
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Neighboring cities in America and Canada, Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario have submitted a joint bid and run the two cities to be home to the new Amazon campus. With the division of headquarters across the Canada-United States border, the company was able to take advantage of the tax incentives offered by both Ontario and Michigan. Amazon could also take advantage of the less restrictive Canadian immigration laws and the lower exchange rate of the Canadian dollar.
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Unlike other cities, Little Rock, Arkansas, purchased a full-page ad in the Washington Post that "broke up" with Amazon, where they described their decision not to bid, while also showing the positive qualities of the city. A few days after the deadline for the offer, the campaign flew a banner plane over Seattle with the same message.
Finalists
Amazon's 20 finalist cities
On January 18, 2018, Amazon announced the shortlist of 20 finalists for the bidding process. The list focused primarily on the East Coast and Midwest of the United States, with Los Angeles the only choice from the West Coast and Toronto the only one outside the United States.
Amazon began tours of its final cities in late February. These cities have signed confidentiality agreements with Amazon for the duration of the bidding process. According to an Amazon spokesman, they did not take the financial incentives offered by the cities.
In November 2018, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal reported that several finalists were in advanced talks with Amazon about the decision, including the potential choice of Crystal City in northern Virginia. On November 5, 2018, it was hypothesized that Amazon would complete plans for equal distribution between two locations: Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia, Long Island City in Queens, New York, or Dallas, Texas. Amazon declined to comment on reports from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Some of the finalists and rejected bids used their bids on Amazon to attract investment from other multinational corporations.
Winning bids
The New York and Northern Virginia elections were approved on November 13, 2018. Amazon released the official announcement later that day. In Amazon's announcement, a joint press release was presented by the contestants in Northern Virginia stating that the location of Amazon's neighborhood would be officially changed which encompasses not only Crystal Pentagon City but also the areas adjacent to the Pentagon.
Northern Virginia / Washington
1770 Crystal Drive has been renovated for the location that Amazon has chosen in the Northern Virginia area that encompasses parts of Arlington County's Crystal City and Pentagon City neighborhoods and neighborhoods in the city of Alexandria. Redevelopment efforts in the area have already begun in 2014, the neighborhood was branded and announced in 2018 as part of local economic development plans to bring Amazon to the area. The announcement also included plans to build a Virginia University graduate school satellite campus and the development of the Ronald Reagan National Airport area in Washington due to its proximity to the selected area.
Virginia offered performance-based incentives that included a $ 550 million cash grant for Amazon's first 25,000 jobs as an average salary of $ 150,000 by 2030. The state offered an additional $ 200 million for the next 12,850 jobs by 2034. Arlington County offered an additional $ 23 million in grants. The cash, which will be distributed over 15 years, is conditional on Amazon reaching a certain size and gradually increasing the tax revenue collected from the county's hotel rooms. The county also offered about $ 28 million in infrastructure improvements related to the property taxes of Pentagon City and the Crystal City area. The state's initial bid was close to $ XNUMX billion, according to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. When Amazon told state officials they would get half the jobs, the group decided to cut (the incentives) in half.
Amazon officials initially said it could occupy up to 8 million square feet of office space in Arlington over 15 years. However, company officials told Arlington in May 2019 that Amazon would not guarantee anything over 4 million square feet.
development
Crystal City area
Step 1:
In May 2019, Amazon started opening jobs for software development engineers and software managers, it moved its first employees to office space in June 2019, and by June 2020, there were about 1,000 company employees.
In January 2020, the company began construction of two 22-story towers on a street known as the Metropolitan Park site because of its proximity to a public park of the same name.
In September 2020, the company began a $ 14 million renovation of the park.
Amazon has indicated its intentions to turn the district into an 18-hour district that will be a shopping and entertainment destination. The company shared its intention to give priority to renting space to small and local businesses with a focus on women-owned and minority-owned retailers.
Step 2: The Helix
On February 2, 2021, the company announced the design of the second phase of the building that included the 354-foot double-glazed structure with a designed space to be opened to the public, it will not be an office building but a place for employees in the Amazon complex to relax or meet colleagues. Founder Jeff Bezos remarked that “the natural beauty of the coil will be seen everywhere.
We will soon tell you about our new project which is about 20 minutes from the Amazon offices designed by the designer on Karim Rashid.
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