Amazon looking to build in GR metro

[joeDowntown]

Looks very similar to the construction going on here:

https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/11/03/us/baltimore-amazon-building-collapse/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

Joe

[GRDadof3]

6 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

Looks very similar to the construction going on here:

https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/11/03/us/baltimore-amazon-building-collapse/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

Joe

The local TV in Baltimore says an F1 tornado was reported in the area (which we do get here once in a while). 

 

[cutlervillegr]

I heard from some one in the construction industry that part of the building is sinking.  Has anyone else heard anything about this?  It's just a rumor, but I heard it's going to cost Amazon a lot of money to correct the issue.

[GRDadof3]

On 11/3/2018 at 11:39 PM, cutlervillegr said:

I heard from some one in the construction industry that part of the building is sinking.  Has anyone else heard anything about this?  It's just a rumor, but I heard it's going to cost Amazon a lot of money to correct the issue.

With a project that size you're bound to run into issues along the way. A couple of bad batches of fill out of the thousands of dump truck loads is statistically likely to happen.  I don't know if that's what it was but I wouldn't be surprised. Luckily they caught it during construction. 

[Chester Cheeto]

On 11/3/2018 at 11:39 PM, cutlervillegr said:

I heard from some one in the construction industry that part of the building is sinking.  Has anyone else heard anything about this?  It's just a rumor, but I heard it's going to cost Amazon a lot of money to correct the issue.

Yes, it is. They are continuing to do as much as they can, but one phase has been put on a complete hold from what I've been told.

[GRDadof3]

On 1/18/2018 at 7:15 PM, GRDadof3 said:

My money is on Northern Virginia, by a landslide. I didn't really know they were in the running but it's a no brainer. I can't think of one single box it doesn't check off for what Amazon would be looking for. About 6 million people in the entire greater metro and some of the most highly educated people on the planet. Transit, rail, airports (if you include Baltimore), international workforce, colleges, R&D folks up the ying yang, amenities galore, tech infrastructure galore (huge data center campuses), government lobbying, warm climate for 8 months, lots of room to grow... 

Well needless to say I got the chills when I heard the news on NPR about Amazon picking Arlington Virginia for 1/2 of its new headquarters (long Island City will get the other 1/2).

https://patch.com/virginia/arlington-va/amazon-split-hq2-between-2-cities-report

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2018/11/06/amazons-real-estate-team-did-its-homework/

Crystal City in Arlington where they're talking about sits right next to Ronald Reagan airport and is served heavily by transit. That VA corridor has one of the smartest concentrations of talent and education on the planet. They also have an affordable housing crisis that makes ours look like peanuts. 

https://goo.gl/maps/zAR5TcAXdrw

 

[Raildude's dad]

On 11/5/2018 at 9:05 AM, mielsonwheels said:

Yes, it is. They are continuing to do as much as they can, but one phase has been put on a complete hold from what I've been told.

I saw the site plan some time ago and there was an area that had soil modification called for.  I don't think fill was imported, the east side was higher than the west side and it appeared they balanced the site into a big flat spot.

[GRDadof3]

1 hour ago, Raildude's dad said:

I saw the site plan some time ago and there was an area that had soil modification called for.  I don't think fill was imported, the east side was higher than the west side and it appeared they balanced the site into a big flat spot.

With farmland? Seriously?  I wouldn't build a house on virgin farmland, not less a concrete warehouse that weighs thousands of tons. 

[GRLaker]

Some interesting articles relating to Amazon's throwing a treat into a mob of rabid dogs and watching them rip each other to shreds over it. It leads to a valid question...Have we hit the point where the federal government needs to step in to save cities and states from themselves? Has corporate welfare as an incentive for job creation hit the point where the return to the taxpayer doesn't justify the expense? I wanted GR to get Amazon, but the more I read about this whole process and the economics of landing the headquarters, the more I realize we're probably better off with just a distribution facility.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/amazons-hq2-spectacle-should-be-illegal/575539/

https://newrepublic.com/article/152190/amazon-scammed-americas-hurting-cities

 

Side Note: This post is not meant to be political. It's meant more for legitimate discussion on the merits of taking steps to limit the constant battling between cities/states. My personal opinion is that a law preventing it might lead to cities/states incentivizing entrepreneurship to lead to new employers popping up as opposed to throwing money at poaching already existing ones in other cities/states. 

Edited November 13, 2018 by GRLaker

[GRDadof3]

54 minutes ago, GRLaker said:

Some interesting articles relating to Amazon's throwing a treat into a mob of rabid dogs and watching them rip each other to shreds over it. It leads to a valid question...Have we hit the point where the federal government needs to step in to save cities and states from themselves? Has corporate welfare as an incentive for job creation hit the point where the return to the taxpayer doesn't justify the expense? I wanted GR to get Amazon, but the more I read about this whole process and the economics of landing the headquarters, the more I realize we're probably better off with just a distribution facility.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/amazons-hq2-spectacle-should-be-illegal/575539/

https://newrepublic.com/article/152190/amazon-scammed-americas-hurting-cities

 

Side Note: This post is not meant to be political. It's meant more for legitimate discussion on the merits of taking steps to limit the constant battling between cities/states. My personal opinion is that a law preventing it might lead to cities/states incentivizing entrepreneurship to lead to new employers popping up as opposed to throwing money at poaching already existing ones in other cities/states. 

There's an interesting debate going on with the Smart Zones in Grand Rapids and StartGarden. The State is having a hard time funding "ecosystems" for entrepreneurs because frankly, most fail. The State will fund expansions or entrepreneurial "events" but not ecosystems. Events and expansions tied to tax incentives have measurables, and can actually be held back if job creation goals are not reached.  How do you use taxpayer dollars for failed businesses (90% fail in the first few years, which is the way it's always been). Taxpayers, particularly since the teaparty has come along, want measurable results. 

https://mibiz.com/sections/small-business/grand-rapids-start-garden-seek-to-repair-relationship 

I never once thought Grand Rapids would get Amazon.   They would actually destroy this area, and we'd all have to move because we couldn't afford to live here anymore. If Northern VA/DC which has 6 million people is worried about what Amazon will do to housing, just imagine... 

[GRDadof3]

Amazonian. 

[RegalTDP]

Well, well, well - Amazon is cancelling its HQ2 project for Queens, NY: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/nyregion/amazon-hq2-queens.html

[GRLaker]

45 minutes ago, RegalTDP said:

Well, well, well - Amazon is cancelling its HQ2 project for Queens, NY: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/nyregion/amazon-hq2-queens.html

Goes to show the power of people when they assemble in large enough numbers. The leaders of New York/NYC clearly did not seek community input before deciding to pay Amazon to take the key to the city.

[Pattmost20]

Wonder if it'll be back to the drawing board or if they'll just upgrade plans for the DC area HQ2.

[GRDadof3]

1 hour ago, RegalTDP said:

Well, well, well - Amazon is cancelling its HQ2 project for Queens, NY: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/nyregion/amazon-hq2-queens.html

Something tells me this is somewhat related to Jeff Bezos' war with AMI/Enquirer/Pecker/Michael Cohen/Trump. The rebuttal of the tax incentives were just icing on the cake. 

[MJLO]

53 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Something tells me this is somewhat related to Jeff Bezos' war with AMI/Enquirer/Pecker/Michael Cohen/Trump. The rebuttal of the tax incentives were just icing on the cake. 

From what I've seen based on the political climate in New York and the general disposition of the population, the residents of Queens weren't hot on the idea of the city/state forking over $3billion in tax incentives for "corporate welfare".    Sounds like they are going to focus on the cities they have a corporate presence in.  I assume the dual selected headquarters in the DC area will get a larger presence than they anticipated.

[GRDadof3]

2 hours ago, MJLO said:

From what I've seen based on the political climate in New York and the general disposition of the population, the residents of Queens weren't hot on the idea of the city/state forking over $3billion in tax incentives for "corporate welfare".    Sounds like they are going to focus on the cities they have a corporate presence in.  I assume the dual selected headquarters in the DC area will get a larger presence than they anticipated.

Oh I know. But don't forget what happens when you threaten to extort one of the richest persons on the planet (ie revenge). That contingent I mentioned above are all based heavily in the New York City scene.

But actually good for New York for standing up to $3 Billion in tax incentives/extortion, to essentially "drink from a garden hose."  

[MJLO]

2 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

Oh I know. But don't forget what happens when you threaten to extort one of the richest persons on the planet (ie revenge). That contingent I mentioned above are all based heavily in the New York City scene.

But actually good for New York for standing up to $3 Billion in tax incentives/extortion, to essentially "drink from a garden hose."  

I just have to think the ROI on $3billion to have 25,000 well paid corporate staffers, would be substantial enough to pay for itself a few times over fairly quickly.  Corporate welfare or not that’s a huge investment in other tax revenue that would have a ripple effect throughout that area.

[Guest]

I'm not really surprised about this.  I don't think it has as much to do with politics as people think.  NYC is already one of the most expensive cities to live in and if Amazon would have built a headquarters in Long Island it would have made it much, much worse.  I think it would be akin to Amazon plopping a HQ in the SF bay area.  From what I heard Amazon is not going to seek out a secondary location, but focus on their campus in Virginia (Metro DC) which already has a lot of income inequality problems..

I'm not sure GR was even on their radar, but think if they would have came here.  Housing stock is already low and this would have shot housing prices into the astronomical level.  Maybe after 10 years of building we could have absorbed it, GR, Detroit and MI in general would not be able to keep up with road infrastructure alone, we can't even keep up with it now.

[MJLO]

42 minutes ago, Floyd_Z said:

I'm not sure GR was even on their radar, but think if they would have came here.  Housing stock is already low and this would have shot housing prices into the astronomical level.  Maybe after 10 years of building we could have absorbed it, GR, Detroit and MI in general would not be able to keep up with road infrastructure alone, we can't even keep up with it now.

If in the world of hypotheticals Amazon had chosen GR, you would have seen every major home builder from here to Atlanta enter the new homes market in Kent County.  Not to mention Amazon's plan was to slowly phase in a work force over the course of ten years.  There would have been no immediate shock to the market.

[GRDadof3]

9 minutes ago, MJLO said:

If in the world of hypotheticals Amazon had chosen GR, you would have seen every major home builder from here to Atlanta enter the new homes market in Kent County.  Not to mention Amazon's plan was to slowly phase in a work force over the course of ten years.  There would have been no immediate shock to the market.

That's crazy. Grand Rapids could never absorb that kind of growth. That's what I mean by drinking from a fire house. The growth and local inflation would be so fierce that pretty much everyone on this forum would have to/want to move away.

The inability to keep up with housing demand now is not for a lack of builders here.

[MJLO]

1 minute ago, GRDadof3 said:

That's crazy. Grand Rapids could never absorb that kind of growth. That's what I mean by drinking from a fire house. The growth and local inflation would be so fierce that pretty much everyone on this forum would have to/want to move away.

The inability to keep up with housing demand now is not for a lack of builders here.

If a company moved 25,000 workers in 2 years then year I would agree it would be drinking from a fire hose.  If we are talking 1,500-2,500 a year it would add strain, but I disagree that it would crush the market.  Grand Rapids has a lot of home builders, but it doesn't have any of the major players on the national scene.   Even one of them re-entering this market will attract more GC's and laborers and increase the ability to add inventory.  With growth comes more growth, more people start moving for opportunities in other industries affected by the growth.  Yeah it would change things no doubt, but we wouldn't become the Fyre Fest of metro areas, people wouldn't have to resort to sleeping in FEMA tents.  If there were in an influx of residents to that magnitude the market would adjust.

[Chester Cheeto]

9 hours ago, MJLO said:

Yeah it would change things no doubt, but we wouldn't become the Fyre Fest of metro areas, people wouldn't have to resort to sleeping in FEMA tents. 

Hey now, some people paid a lot of money to have the luxury of FEMA tent accommodations. 

[mpchicago]

Drone  view of Amazon warehouse in Gaines Twp

Edited April 30, 2019 by mpchicago

[joeDowntown]

3 hours ago, mpchicago said:

Drone  view of Amazon warehouse in Gaines Twp

Drove past today. It’s huge and very visible from m6. 

Joe