OT: Amazon HQ2 - 20 Finalists

RUBOB72

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Aug 5, 2004
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Ok ... more reasons to like the NY / NJ Area...though more expensive this area holds attractive options for young talent and a diverse work force...beaches... from Cape May to Sandy Hook and Coney Island to Montauk LI... the most diverse choices of food (and sorry other finalists)the finest restaurants anywhere... entertainment... cultural events... major sports both in College and Pro...listen it’s going to come down to what city and state offers the most valued incentives... With nearly 25 million living in the tri state and Pennsylvania vicinity it ‘s going to be interesting...
 
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy

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Well thank you to amazon for naming their finalists they just saved me some research on where i’ll look into making a multi-unit play
 

Upstream

Heisman
Jul 31, 2001
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Thanks. I wonder if the fact that it can't be built out as a quasi-contiguous campus in Newark make it less desirable from Amazon's point of view.

I would guess not. They are talking about 50,000 employees in HQ2. That is a huge number of people to put in a single location. The end of every day would be like Rutgers Stadium emptying out at the end of a close game.

Realistically, they'll have to distribute those people over multiple, nearby locations.
 

rufeelinit

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While it would be in my personal interest to root for one of them, I can't see Newark or NYC being the winner in this. Too congested and aging infrastructure. Interesting that Northern Va, Washington DC and Montgomery County MD all make the cut with Bezos owning the Post. The biggest city I could quickly see that was omitted was San Francisco. I assume they put in a bid.
 

Zak57

Heisman
Jul 5, 2011
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While it would be in my personal interest to root for one of them, I can't see Newark or NYC being the winner in this. Too congested and aging infrastructure. Interesting that Northern Va, Washington DC and Montgomery County MD all make the cut with Bezos owning the Post. The biggest city I could quickly see that was omitted was San Francisco. I assume they put in a bid.

Why would they put an east coast HQ in SF, a west coast city? I see LA is a finalist also doesn't make sense. Guess it's not an east coast hq just a 2nd area .
 

Upstream

Heisman
Jul 31, 2001
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Based off your criteria it's either Newark/NYC or the DC-area.

I think that's a good bet. 25% of the finalist locations are NY-Metro or DC-Metro.

Add Philly and Boston, and more than a third of the finalist locations are in the northeast corridor.

That doesn't mean that a different geography won't be selected, but the list of finalists certainly provides some insight into what Amazon is thinking.
 
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RUnTeX

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They never said it was an east coast HQ. LA is one of the finalists, but it's the only one on the west coast. Denver is not on the east coast, neither are the two Texas cities, the multiple Midwest cities, and a few others.
 
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RUBigFrank

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Always thought Newark to be a prime candidate - it has great infrastructure that is under rated:
  • PATH access
  • EWR airport
  • Proximity to NYC
  • Educated workforce in the metro region
I think the mistake most prognosticators are making is viewing the city in its present format and not what it could be. In addition - there are plenty of "brown fields" that can be developed.

Has any one been to Harrison lately - they leveled the area by the PATH station and is a prime location for development.
 

Zak57

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Jul 5, 2011
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They never said it was an east coast HQ. LA is one of the finalists, but it's the only one on the west coast. Denver is not on the east coast, neither are the two Texas cities, the multiple Midwest cities, and a few others.

Yeah I thought for some reason they stated it would be east coast. Oh well.
 
May 11, 2010
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RU_Planning

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Look to see what they’ve done in Seattle. I expect them to pick a location where they can replicate that model.
 
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Always thought Newark to be a prime candidate - it has great infrastructure that is under rated:
  • PATH access
  • EWR airport
  • Proximity to NYC
  • Educated workforce in the metro region
I think the mistake most prognosticators are making is viewing the city in its present format and not what it could be. In addition - there are plenty of "brown fields" that can be developed.

Has any one been to Harrison lately - they leveled the area by the PATH station and is a prime location for development.
All sounds good except the problem is all those systems are at capacity or falling apart. You go to other cities and you can sit down on their mass transit and it’s much newer.

50k more employees heading into Newark is a nightmare. Youd need to leave your house at 7am to get to work by 9.
 
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Beancounter88

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Always thought Newark to be a prime candidate - it has great infrastructure that is under rated:
  • PATH access
  • EWR airport
  • Proximity to NYC
  • Educated workforce in the metro region
I think the mistake most prognosticators are making is viewing the city in its present format and not what it could be. In addition - there are plenty of "brown fields" that can be developed.

Has any one been to Harrison lately - they leveled the area by the PATH station and is a prime location for development.
With Newark, I am more concerned with the access roads. Rt 280 and McCarter Highway are disasters at rush hour. Unless they want to put a campus close to Rt 78, Turnpike entrance, or over by IKEA at the port, It's hard to see adding that many people in Newark, at least in the inner city.
 

OTBOTOR

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Always thought Newark to be a prime candidate

I see what you did there...

I agree, though. Newark has quite a few advantages on paper. It's not the sexiest city on the list, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it be a late-round finalist.
 

ScarletKid2008

Heisman
Sep 8, 2006
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Oh and from an educational standpoint ...New Jersey #2 in education in USA ...leading Universities in 35-40 mile radius of Newark which are the equal or superior overall to those in Raleigh area...

NJ is #2 in grade school K-12 education. That's not who they're hiring. They're going after college grads (and senior tech folks), and NJ colleges (ex Princeton) are not ranked favorably compared to those near the other options. Maybe if the state invested more into its flagship Universities then we'd be better positioned from that aspect.
 

bitnez

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Jan 18, 2006
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I heard from someone in the industry a couple months back that it was going to be Columbus, OH. Yes, I get that things could change and there are 19 other names, but the fact that Columbus made the list when it doesn't seem to fit with some of the other locations does give me pause.
 

Rokodesh

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Aug 30, 2007
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All sounds good except the problem is all those systems are at capacity or falling apart. You go to other cities and you can sit down on their mass transit and it’s much newer.

50k more employees heading into Newark is a nightmare. Youd need to leave your house at 7am to get to work by 9.

you already have to leave at 7. People don't realize how much of a commuting nightmare it would be, on top of how horrible it already is. Newark Penn at 8am is one of the most crowded, congested, and miserable places to be in the entire country.

Put it in South Jersey or outside Philly instead, if you're going to do east coast. I think No. Virginia/Maryland/Atlanta are much better options.
 

RUBOB72

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ScarletKid2008...please don’t embarrass yourself Kid2008... those pre K- 12 kids grow up fast... many diverse groups of families who pride themselves on success in academics... it is a positive rather than a negative in this case... You don’t think Amazon looks at the age demographic in areas of interest...sorry but your wine about funding from the state... that is not Amazon’s concern... educated ... diverse...New Jersey and New York hold many of the keys... Why is this state far ahead of all but 1 ...Asian...Indian...Latin students perform well and raise the scholarship levels in our schools... it also keeps the towns they live in usually in good shape...
 

MoobyCow

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Nov 28, 2001
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you already have to leave at 7. People don't realize how much of a commuting nightmare it would be, on top of how horrible it already is. Newark Penn at 8am is one of the most crowded, congested, and miserable places to be in the entire country.

Put it in South Jersey or outside Philly instead, if you're going to do east coast. I think No. Virginia/Maryland/Atlanta are much better options.

Have you tried commuting in No Virginia, Maryland or Atlanta? I'm not saying Newark is a good choice (and frankly given the concessions offered, Newark would be better off not winning), but all of the areas you mentioned are already parking lots.
 

Rokodesh

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Aug 30, 2007
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Have you tried commuting in No Virginia, Maryland or Atlanta? I'm not saying Newark is a good choice (and frankly given the concessions offered, Newark would be better off not winning), but all of the areas you mentioned are already parking lots.

I meant if the HQ was outside of the main downtown in those cities. Same reason you could put HQ in south jersey/outside philly and it wouldnt be as bad as right in the middle of Newark.
 

SJScarlet

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you already have to leave at 7. People don't realize how much of a commuting nightmare it would be, on top of how horrible it already is. Newark Penn at 8am is one of the most crowded, congested, and miserable places to be in the entire country.

Put it in South Jersey or outside Philly instead, if you're going to do east coast. I think No. Virginia/Maryland/Atlanta are much better options.
Probably because you're not from those places, and not familiar with the gridlock and congestion that exists elsewhere as well. Atlanta is very crowded and underserved by its road system, and the D.C. beltway has perhaps the most legendary gridlock in the country
 

MoobyCow

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I meant if the HQ was outside of the main downtown in those cities. Same reason you could put HQ in south jersey/outside philly and it wouldnt be as bad as right in the middle of Newark.
It would have to be pretty damn far from Atlanta, so far as to not be in a reasonable commuting distance from Atlanta. Same for No Virginia, pretty much everything North of Richmond is gridlock.
 
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RU_Planning

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It would have to be pretty damn far from Atalanta, so far as to not be in a reasonable commuting distance from Atlanta. Same for No Virginia, pretty much everything North of Richmond is gridlock.
I think the location proposed in Atlanta is close to where the Georgia Dome was.
 

BigLou

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All sounds good except the problem is all those systems are at capacity or falling apart. You go to other cities and you can sit down on their mass transit and it’s much newer.

50k more employees heading into Newark is a nightmare. Youd need to leave your house at 7am to get to work by 9.

The traffic in some of the other finalists is probably worse than Newark. The D.C. area, especially northern Virginia is a nightmare. Probably the same holds true for Atlanta, L.A. and others.
 

Scarlet_Scourge

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May 25, 2012
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Plus Newark has NJIT and Rutgers-Newark, Amazon wants the campus to be located next to colleges.

Also Rutgers-NB and Princeton are in the same state.

Also others like Stevens Institute of Technology, Seton hall
 

RU4Real

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I think the location proposed in Atlanta is close to where the Georgia Dome was.

Atlanta's traffic is horrible now and there's no mass transit. Hartsfield is one of the world's busiest airports and the fact that it's a hub does little to overcome the reality of massive delays.

Unfortunately Newark suffers from many of the same problems. The roadways are at capacity and mass transit needs a major overhaul. EWR isn't as much a nightmare as Atlanta but it's close - and it's not expandable.
 

MoobyCow

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Atlanta's traffic is horrible now and there's no mass transit. Hartsfield is one of the world's busiest airports and the fact that it's a hub does little to overcome the reality of massive delays.

Unfortunately Newark suffers from many of the same problems. The roadways are at capacity and mass transit needs a major overhaul. EWR isn't as much a nightmare as Atlanta but it's close - and it's not expandable.
Yes, they are both horrible. I guess my only point is a traffic nightmare is not likely to be the deciding issue, because so many of the places on the list are already traffic nightmares.
 

RU_Planning

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Yes, they are both horrible. I guess my only point is a traffic nightmare is not likely to be the deciding issue, because so many of the places on the list are already traffic nightmares.
Given that Amazon boasts about 20% of its workforce walking to work in Seattle I wouldn't be surprised if commuting traffic was down on the list of critical factors.

I never knew this, but apparently Dallas has the 5th worst traffic in the United States.

Interesting that Amazon leased over 300,000 square feet of space on the west side of Manhattan (Hudson Yards area) in September of 2017. It will be home to Amazon Advertising.
 
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OntheBanks

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Audible currently has approx 100,000 sf of space in Newark and may be looking for as much as 300,000 sf in Newark for future expansion
A 855,000 sf warehouse is being constructed right now for Amazon near the Goethals Bridge on Staten Island which is part of NYC and pretty close to Newark Airport.
http://www.silive.com/news/2017/09/would_amazon_open_its_new_head.html
Across the highway from the warehouse is a large office park which once held 'The Teleport' an AT&T facility that contained large satellite dishes. It's now owned by NYC and managed by the Port Authority.
https://www.panynj.gov/real-estate-development/teleport.html
This is a viable site for Amazon that fits all their stated requirements.
  • Metropolitan areas with more than 1 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.
 
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RU4Real

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A 855,000 sf warehouse is being constructed right now for Amazon near the Goethals Bridge on Staten Island which is part of NYC and pretty close to Newark Airport.
http://www.silive.com/news/2017/09/would_amazon_open_its_new_head.html
Across the highway from the warehouse is a large office park which once held 'The Teleport' an AT&T facility that contained large satellite dishes. It's now owned by NYC and managed by the Port Authority.
https://www.panynj.gov/real-estate-development/teleport.html
This is a viable site for Amazon that fits all their stated requirements.
  • Metropolitan areas with more than 1 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.

Yeah, but it's Staten Island.
 

RUnTeX

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I never knew this, but apparently Dallas has the 5th worst traffic in the United States.

Indeed...I read about it a few years ago in USA Today or something like that. Traffic in and around the DFW Metroplex is notoriously nightmarish. Not quite LA bad, but bad enough. Also, I think according to motor vehicle accident statistics, Dallas has something like 3 or 4 of the top 10 worst intersections in terms of number of incidents.
 
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I heard from someone in the industry a couple months back that it was going to be Columbus, OH. Yes, I get that things could change and there are 19 other names, but the fact that Columbus made the list when it doesn't seem to fit with some of the other locations does give me pause.
That makes a lot of sense. Annoying that Ohio State wins again. They can easily turn Columbus into Seattle 2.0. It makes no sense on the list bc it doesn’t meet all the original requirements of amazon but it’s there for a reason.
 

Upstream

Heisman
Jul 31, 2001
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I heard from someone in the industry a couple months back that it was going to be ...

 

MorrisAsh

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I would guess not. They are talking about 50,000 employees in HQ2. That is a huge number of people to put in a single location. The end of every day would be like Rutgers Stadium emptying out at the end of a close game.

Realistically, they'll have to distribute those people over multiple, nearby locations.
They're looking to build 8,000,000 sq feet of space.
Plus Newark has NJIT and Rutgers-Newark, Amazon wants the campus to be located next to colleges.

Also Rutgers-NB and Princeton are in the same state.

Also others like Stevens Institute of Technology, Seton hall[/QUOTEB
Bezos and wife went to Princeton.
 
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redlinehw

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A 855,000 sf warehouse is being constructed right now for Amazon near the Goethals Bridge on Staten Island which is part of NYC and pretty close to Newark Airport.
http://www.silive.com/news/2017/09/would_amazon_open_its_new_head.html
Across the highway from the warehouse is a large office park which once held 'The Teleport' an AT&T facility that contained large satellite dishes. It's now owned by NYC and managed by the Port Authority.
https://www.panynj.gov/real-estate-development/teleport.html
This is a viable site for Amazon that fits all their stated requirements.
  • Metropolitan areas with more than 1 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.


-NJ has been chasing top companies out of the state for decades - not a business friendly environment
-suburban areas with uber-high property taxes and Newark (high crime reputation and decades of corruption and political infighting) and little to no attractive rentals apartments - overall not attractive to technical talent
 
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