Amazon HQ2

[elrodvt]

Quote

Why does it have to be disconnected or what is wrong with the epicenter?  

The poster referenced the new stadium in Atlanta. A planning fail with no good transit links. Not to be copied at all cost.

To each his own regarding the Epicenter. If you're the type of traveler who wants to go to tourist spots and eat in the hotel restaurant or the chain you know that's fine.  Doesn't do much for people that live there though. 

As for Southern culture not changing (which I guess you edited out) - That's certainly not historically accurate nor I hope most peoples attitude.

Agree the thread has been hijacked. I will open a new one. If you don't want to talk about ideas to make Charlotte's uptown more urban and pleasant for it's residents it'll be easy for you to ignore that thread.

[RiverwoodCLT]

5 hours ago, Durhamite said:

Why does it have to be disconnected or what is wrong with the epicenter?   I like downtown Atlanta, it's who southerners  are at the core and anything else is simply denial.  It has a bunch of overrated tourist attractions, some not so bad.   When I visit downtown DC, NYC, etc I'm not there to visit "how" or "where" people live or hit up some random watering hole in Cleveland Heights or Easter Market (DC).  Well, unless I know them or someone takes me there.  It's all about the overpriced tourist trap for outsiders (Georgetown, etc) and I say the more gaudy entertainment venues the better in uptown Charlotte....live music, anything even it seems "fake".   I wish a NC city had a casino downtown.   Uptown Charlotte ain't ever gonna be downtown Charlestown, never.  Or have a strip like the 16th mall in Denver (yep, I liver there as well). I hope you didn't move uptown  with the slightest of those expectations.  Let the fringe neighborhoods be the soul of the city.

Quite honestly,  prior to the epicenter, what was the other tourist or action draw to go uptown/downtown other than a smattering of restaurants and bars....now they have movies, bowling, sort of centralized "action" area.   I know this, I visited Charlotte a ton over the past decades and recently relocated from there.    All I am saying is both can co-exist and doing anything organic isn't the Charlotte way...keep Chalotte "fake", I like it that way.

As for the topic, no NC city has a chance in hell of getting that HQs.  No NC city particular really needs it...we don't have  the infrastructure to support it.  Just a big dose reality.

 

At the present time,  Charlotte is in the process of adding over 5 million sq. ft. of office space in center city.    Adding 8 million sq ft of office space over time would not be a problem for Charlotte.  Our airport does meet its requirements. At the present CLT has a non stop flight to Seattle. http://clt.fltmaps.com/en

As far as add 50, 000 people, Charlotte added  over 110,000 in 6 year.  I do not think we will see 50,000 workers at one time  or 8 million sq ft of office space at one time.

Amazon get a lot of College and University graduates for California.

Charlotte sets in the middle of 9 Universities within a 1/2 drive of Charlotte

 

From Forbes:

Charlotte, N.C., is more often associated with banks than bots. Yet from 2006 to 2016, tech businesses in the Queen City expanded their job count by 62%, with 18% growth from 2014-16, the fastest clip in the nation.

 

The new Amazon receiving center on Old Dowd Road at Wilkinson Boulevard in west Charlotte. The company plans to hire about 600 temporary workers in North Carolina this holiday season. Davie Hinshaw [email protected]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/whats-in-store/article179087506.html

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2017 by RiverwoodCLT

[Durhamite]

15 hours ago, elrodvt said:

The poster referenced the new stadium in Atlanta. A planning fail with no good transit links. Not to be copied at all cost.

To each his own regarding the Epicenter. If you're the type of traveler who wants to go to tourist spots and eat in the hotel restaurant or the chain you know that's fine.  Doesn't do much for people that live there though. 

As for Southern culture not changing (which I guess you edited out) - That's certainly not historically accurate nor I hope most peoples attitude.

Agree the thread has been hijacked. I will open a new one. If you don't want to talk about ideas to make Charlotte's uptown more urban and pleasant for it's residents it'll be easy for you to ignore that thread.

I like Charlotte, always have and might be moving back in a few months.  I'll defer to the other thread...thanks.

[KJHburg]

Atlanta Business Chronicle is reporting this but this is not related to HQ2 search but just an office like their Vancouver office.   

""Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. has engaged in early exploratory discussions with real estate developers about occupying between 500,000 square feet and 1 million square feet in Boston, likely in the Seaport District, according to real estate industry sources with knowledge of the conversations.

The deal would be separate from Amazon’s proposed 8-million-square-foot second headquarters, for which Boston has submitted a bid, those sources said.""

[The ATX]

21 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Atlanta Business Chronicle is reporting this but this is not related to HQ2 search but just an office like their Vancouver office.   

""Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. has engaged in early exploratory discussions with real estate developers about occupying between 500,000 square feet and 1 million square feet in Boston, likely in the Seaport District, according to real estate industry sources with knowledge of the conversations.

The deal would be separate from Amazon’s proposed 8-million-square-foot second headquarters, for which Boston has submitted a bid, those sources said.""

Amazon also appears to be doing something similar in Austin and unrelated to HQ2 with the appropriately named "Project Rainforest".   Amazon's expansion across the country is just massive.

[BullDurhamer]

Here's the PR play for Amazon...

 

Announce the contest...nobody's city will win, just like nobody wins the lottery.  I mean, some city will win, but it probably won't be  your city,  whichever that may be.

Then the losers, Charlotte, Detroit, Baltimore, Denver, Portland, etc. will all get these enormous deals anyway, as they've set the table for getting some nice tax breaks and whatnot from the municipalities who all have already professed their love for Amazon. 

All the while everybody in almost every major region in the country and Canada are reading and talking about Amazon all of the time.  It's got to be one of the world's greatest marketing gimmicks ever.   

Edited November 6, 2017 by BullDurhamer

[Cadi40]

Can't wait to see the city that gets picked by amazon in 20 years. Taxes and cost of living will most likely be through the roof and it will be a corporate jungle. 

[SydneyCarton]

On 11/2/2017 at 7:49 PM, Popsickle said:

They won't go to the crap hole known as Jersey regardless of how much money they throw at Amazon. 

I hate to burst your bubble, but some of the most beautiful, richest communities in America surround Newark.  Look on realtor.com at Alpine, Saddle River, Short Hills, etc.

Not to mention, for those who prefer urban life (on the NJ side of the Hudson), Jersey City and Hoboken blow the doors off of Charlotte.

P.S.: When you search, do so by highest price.   Don't waste your time looking at the little $3m houses.  The $30-$40m range is the sweetspot.

 

 

Edited November 7, 2017 by SydneyCarton

[rancenc]

Interesting article on Amazon's tax avoidance and incentive squeezing techniques in terms of it's rise to prominence.  Maybe I am in the very non-vocal minority, but I just have a gut feeling this 2nd headquarter selection is going to be a shell of what is being hyped.

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qv34dp/amazons-headquarters-tax-subsidies

[KJHburg]

and this from Seattle http://q13fox.com/2017/11/06/study-says-rising-rents-tied-to-rising-homeless-population-in-seattle/

as I have said I will be glad when the short list comes out Dec. 1 and we can move on from this.   Several reports that major expansion of companies are being held up because they do NOT want to go to the city Amazon chooses for this HQ2. 

[RiverwoodCLT]

I think Charlotte has done just fine without Amazon, and it sound as it wants a big hand out where ever it goes.

We have companies moving there headquarters to Charlotte all the time,  so if we do not get selected, we may be lucky in the long run.

From Charlotte Chamber of Commerce

https://charlottechamber.com/chamber-news/recent-relocations-expansions/

Edited November 7, 2017 by RiverwoodCLT

[Popsickle]

2 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

I hate to burst your bubble, but some of the most beautiful, richest communities in America surround Newark.  Look on realtor.com at Alpine, Saddle River, Short Hills, etc.

Not to mention, for those who prefer urban life (on the NJ side of the Hudson), Jersey City and Hoboken blow the doors off of Charlotte.

P.S.: When you search, do so by highest price.   Don't waste your time looking at the little $3m houses.  The $30-$40m range is the sweetspot.

 

 

I think your taking my little joke a little hard there buddy. 

[KJHburg]

If and big if Amazon comes to Charlotte area we dont have to worry about SC snagging it.  OUCH! From the Business Journal today

The legal fight between the state of South Carolina and Amazon.com Inc. over uncollected sales taxes from third-party sellers just got kicked up a notch. At stake in the battle is $500 million in missed sales-tax revenue that the state says Amazon should have been collecting from customers.

The S.C. Revenue Department has asked administrative law judge Ralph King Anderson III in Columbia for an injunction to force Amazon (NYSE: AMZN) to begin collecting sales tax on all online sales. And the state wants Amazon to be required to put those funds into a trust until the court can decide who wins the sales-tax struggle between the world’s largest online retailer and South Carolina.

Article https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/11/09/s-c-estimates-amazon-will-owe-500m-in-sales-tax.html?ana=e_du_prem&s=article_du&ed=2017-11-09&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1510265151&j=79144471

[Higgs Boson]

How do people in places like Atlanta feel about the possibility of landing HQ2? 

Considering Atlanta is so much bigger than Charlotte, adding way more people per year and is battling with being over congested and overgrown, I have to imagine most residents are against it?   What about places like Dallas?

[alb1no panther]

On 11/9/2017 at 5:11 PM, KJHburg said:

If and big if Amazon comes to Charlotte area we dont have to worry about SC snagging it.  OUCH! From the Business Journal today

The legal fight between the state of South Carolina and Amazon.com Inc. over uncollected sales taxes from third-party sellers just got kicked up a notch. At stake in the battle is $500 million in missed sales-tax revenue that the state says Amazon should have been collecting from customers.

The S.C. Revenue Department has asked administrative law judge Ralph King Anderson III in Columbia for an injunction to force Amazon (NYSE: AMZN) to begin collecting sales tax on all online sales. And the state wants Amazon to be required to put those funds into a trust until the court can decide who wins the sales-tax struggle between the world’s largest online retailer and South Carolina.

Article https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/11/09/s-c-estimates-amazon-will-owe-500m-in-sales-tax.html?ana=e_du_prem&s=article_du&ed=2017-11-09&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1510265151&j=79144471

lol....going after the big bucks.  SC is a total joke of a state, just a notch down from Mississippi & West Virginia.

[elrodvt]

John Oliver did a nice rant about incentives on last Sundays "last week tonight". 

I believe it was Connecticut that reported returns of 2c/$ in an analysis of their incentive program. Definitely worth a watch.

[SouthEndCLT811]

Ayrsley shows off their site plan.  My commute to Continental Blvd would get a little congested with expectation of 2,200 new cars on Pioneer Ave 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article184850968.html#storylink=hpdigest

[tozmervo]

14 minutes ago, SouthEndCLT811 said:

Ayrsley shows off their site plan.  My commute to Continental Blvd would get a little congested with expectation of 2,200 new cars on Pioneer Ave 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article184850968.html#storylink=hpdigest

13,600 parking spaces. That's $450-600 million in construction value. It's really tragic that they even thought to just casually throw those kind of numbers on a document like that. 

[kermit]

39 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

13,600 parking spaces. That's $450-600 million in construction value. It's really tragic that they even thought to just casually throw those kind of numbers on a document like that. 

I am kinda startled that every suburban office park owner thinks they have a shot at Amazon. Makes me think that none of these folks have never seen an actual walkable business district and they have crappy reading comprehension skills.

[CM2424]

8 minutes ago, kermit said:

I am kinda startled that every suburban office park owner thinks they have a shot at Amazon. Makes me think that none of these folks have never seen an actual walkable business district and they have crappy reading comprehension skills.

Agreed - there is a zero percent chance Amazon will end up somewhere like that.  Charlotte's only chance is uptown - hopefully the city realized that in our bid.  

[Guest]

Edit: change of heart thanks to@QcLifer

 

[cjd5050]

23 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

I've known the guy quoted in the article since he was in diapers. I'm flabbergasted that he thinks Arysley could be the landing place of Amazon. He must not be too confident though, otherwise that "site plan" would look less like it was done by me 10 years ago.

I have google sketch as well and can sketch boxes.  Does this now make me a planner?    smh

It reads like a head coach of a football team who knows his team is crap but talks in coach speak about how they can win....

[QClifer]

I think it was done more to help develop the rest of the Ayrsley development. Show the city and other corporations they have a lot of land left. And publicity.  I highly doubt they realistically though they had a chance. Mr Hodges is smarter than that. 

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, QClifer said:

I think it was done more to help develop the rest of the Ayrsley development. Show the city and other corporations they have a lot of land left. And publicity.  I highly doubt they realistically though they had a chance. Mr Hodges is smarter than that. 

very very good point. More Savvy than I give him credit for I suppose. :-)

[J-Rob]

13 minutes ago, QClifer said:

I think it was done more to help develop the rest of the Ayrsley development. Show the city and other corporations they have a lot of land left. And publicity.  I highly doubt they realistically though they had a chance. Mr Hodges is smarter than that. 

Very true, but IMO the intersection of 485 and Tryon is a nightmare.  Tryon has like 4 traffic lights within half a mile of the on/off ramps.  One afternoon I had to drive like 1.5 half across 485 on Tryon to get some contact solution and it took me like 40 minutes round trip.  I say that to say if they are looking for a more dense build out I hope they are going to work with relevant governmental entities on some infrastructure improvements.