Amazon HQ2 contenders down to Chicago, 19 other cities
Chicago is among 20 suitors still in contention for Amazon’s second headquarters, as the city vies to win one of the most heavily contested — and most publicly conducted — corporate office deals in decades.
The e-commerce company on Thursday announced the North American cities and regions that made the cut for its planned new campus, also known as HQ2.
Chicago was joined on the list by other big cities long believed to be in contention, including Washington, D.C., Boston, Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, New York, Toronto and Philadelphia, as well as some surprises — such as Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio.
One notable omission was Detroit, which many real estate experts had pointed to as an HQ2 dark horse to watch.
Seattle-based Amazon in September announced plans to invest $5 billion creating a second but “full equal” headquarters that would create up to 50,000 high-paying jobs in buildings potentially totaling more than 8 million square feet. Amazon said it plans to start with about 500,000 square feet and expand the campus over a decade and a half.
Amazon received proposals from 238 cities and regions in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough — all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity,” Holly Sullivan, an Amazon public policy executive, said in a news release. “Through this process we learned about many communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation.”
Illinois, Chicago and Cook County teamed up to offer more than $2 billion in incentives to Amazon, and offered 10 proposed sites. Sites in Chicago are Lincoln Yards, a development along the Chicago River near Lincoln Park and Bucktown; the Downtown Gateway District, which includes space in Willis Tower and redevelopment of the old main post office and Union Station; City Center Campus, a proposed redevelopment of the state-owned Thompson Center in the Loop; the River District, a 37-acre development along the river and Halsted Street; the Burnham Lakefront, a Bronzeville development that includes the Michael Reese Hospital site; the 78, a development planned on 62 acres along the river between the South Loop and Chinatown; Fulton Market district properties controlled by multiple owners; and the Illinois Medical District redevelopment. Two suburban locations proposed are the soon-to-be-vacated, 145-acre McDonald's campus in Oak Brook, which the company will leave for Fulton Market; and more than 260 acres available for development on the longtime Motorola Solutions campus in Schaumburg, where Zurich North America recently built a new headquarters.
“Today’s news makes clear that Amazon recognizes Chicago’s great strengths — access to talent, transportation, higher education, affordability and quality of life, which are the keys to growth and prosperity,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. “As companies including GE Healthcare, Conagra and McDonald’s have concluded, Chicago offers unparalleled opportunities, and we are going to continue to work as a region to make the case to Amazon that Chicago is the ideal location for HQ2. We are prepared to compete at the next level and the next level after that.”
It’s not clear whether Amazon will pare the 20 contenders down to a shorter list before selecting one, or if its next announcement will unveil the winner.
On its website, Amazon said, “In the coming months, Amazon will work with each of the candidate locations to dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information as necessary, and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership that can accommodate our hiring plans as well as benefit our employees and the local community. We expect to make a decision in 2018.”
Amazon said key factors it will consider include access to a major airport, public transportation, top universities and well-educated workers. The company is looking to expand outside Seattle because the company has outgrown the city, creating a shortage of potential employees, affordable housing and office space.
Some of the 20 locations still in contention — Austin, Texas; Indianapolis; Columbus; Raleigh, N.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Pittsburgh — could eventually face some of the same issues, because they’re relatively small or already have been growing rapidly.
In addition to Washington, D.C.’s proposal, two nearby suburban areas — Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, Md. — also made Amazon’s short list. Others on the list are Los Angeles, Miami and Newark, N.J.
Amazon unveiled its list of HQ2 contenders a day after another tech giant, Apple, said it planned to create a new office campus — a deal that also could attract eager suitors throughout North America. Apple’s announcement did not make clear whether it plans a site search or whether it already knows where the new campus will go. Apple said the location would be announced later this year.
Emanuel, who had Apple CEO Tim Cook on his podcast in October when Cook was in town for Apple’s flagship store opening on Michigan Avenue, immediately vowed to pursue the Apple deal.
