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I firmly believe this will be a east coast site for HQ2 for Amazon. Denver and all of California is too close in time zone to Seattle.  I think the southeast and maybe Boston will get this. As for Amazon too many techies there already and they said they dont really want to compete and have people jump ship in major tech centers. Austin has horrendous traffic too. I think Atlanta is in the top 3 and think Charlotte has a chance but it will be within walking distance of our light rail like 1st Ward, Brooklyn redux, but close to uptown.  A global company needs an east cost operation to make it easy to deal with Europe.   They want to attract people look at all the universities in the Carolinas alone and Charlotte is already a proven draw for those graduates. 

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The ever so smart and insightful NY Times (LOL) has said Denver is the top choice for Amazon HQ2 great to see they will be wrong yet again! https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/09/upshot/where-should-amazon-new-headquarters-be.html?_r=0   Charlotte is not attractive enough to young people??? Huh? Number one metro in the country in attracting millenials. 

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https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/09/11/brookings-fellow-charlotte-has-good-chance-to.html

^I think this article is very good at summing up what Charlotte has got to offer Amazon, I think we are a strong contender, a dark horse. The main issue I see is the university system, however UNCC is a very good school (Davidson College too) plus we are practically halfway between UNC/Duke etc and Georgia Tech.  

We have a shot at this, we can't f' this up. 

(Side note: should we have a separate forum for Amazon HQ2 chances??)

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^ Probably, and I agree with KJH's east coast assessment, not because it matters to their distribution network (although it might to a degree), but because it can matter from a risk/disaster recovery standpoint, and I truly do think they are looking at costs here as well.  Seems to me to explain the comment about easy air travel to the cities they mention, all of which are very expensive.

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If Charlotte landed Amazon, I'd be stunned.  The superblock they have here in downtown is next level, it's completely transformed SLU.

 

59b6e473ca608_7ef8dbd0-9436-11e7-b343-b7c75282038d(2).thumb.jpg.c4fab1a023827b08a08aaa9d52120baf.jpg

 

 

Make no mistake though, whatever city gets the new Amazon HQ will be based on one primary component....tax incentives.   Jeff Bezos didn't become of the richest people on the planet because of poor business practices.  Amazon didn't quietly start looking around, they announced it publicly.  They want this to be an all out war between US/Canadian cities to attract Amazon.  I can't even begin to imagine what the incentives package will look like.

 

I am hopeful it'll cool the housing prices out here though.  Which have exploded since Amazon really started to expand.  Arguably one of the few downsides of attracting a monster the size of Amazon, you'll get a massive influx of new, well paid residents, seeking housing.  Great if you own and plan to sell some day, real bad if you rent.  Could be the beginning of the end for Charlotte's known affordability.

"Meanwhile, home prices in Seattle have risen 47% to an average of $667,488 since 2007, according to the Cost of Living Index by the Council for Community and Economic Research."

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23 minutes ago, ah59396 said:

I am hopeful it'll cool the housing prices out here though.  Which have exploded since Amazon really started to expand.  Arguably one of the few downsides of attracting a monster the size of Amazon, you'll get a massive influx of new, well paid residents, seeking housing.  Great if you own and plan to sell some day, real bad if you rent.  Could be the beginning of the end for Charlotte's known affordability.

"Meanwhile, home prices in Seattle have risen 47% to an average of $667,488 since 2007, according to the Cost of Living Index by the Council for Community and Economic Research."

I was thinking about this the other night. That's not a side effect that we need right now. Although I would LOVE for this to happen, Charlotte is an amazing city that will continue to improve and attract major players, so either way, we are on the winning team.

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1 hour ago, ah59396 said:

If Charlotte landed Amazon, I'd be stunned.  The superblock they have here in downtown is next level, it's completely transformed SLU.

First of all, Seattle is such a great city.  On a sunny day, is there a nicer city in North America?  

Wouldn't it be ironic if Daniel Levine's patheticness actually became a positive in our effort to land Amazon?  That's an awful lot of land in First Ward that could be scooped up and developed by deep pocketed Amazon if they wanted an urban location adjacent to multiple rail options (BL and SC)?  It would be easy to envision spillover into North End also.  Imagine what Amazon could do for UNCC?  My short list (in order) ranked on absolutely nothing but my opinion based on geography, desirability of location, workforce/education, transit (including airports), taxes, cost of living and incentives (every locale has pluses and minuses):

Dallas, Denver, Atlanta, Charlotte (a likely homer pick), Pittsburgh and Minneapolis

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, SgtCampsalot said:

First, an interesting and well-written perspective.  Second, the comments following are hilarious.  That said, they have an obligation to shareholders to get the best deal and this is how relocations are done here (similar to sports franchise relocations but much more beneficial).  It's unseemly but refusing to play is not an option (unless you want to be a declining city).  Also, what Amazon will take from a city and state will be nominal compared to what it will give back.  Just think about all that BOA does here (philanthropically, culturally, economically, etc).  Aside from the unfairness to current businesses already in Charlotte, they can't pay them too much in incentives (imo).

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2 hours ago, JBS said:

First, an interesting and well-written perspective.  Second, the comments following are hilarious.  That said, they have an obligation to shareholders to get the best deal and this is how relocations are done here (similar to sports franchise relocations but much more beneficial).  It's unseemly but refusing to play is not an option (unless you want to be a declining city).  Also, what Amazon will take from a city and state will be nominal compared to what it will give back.  Just think about all that BOA does here (philanthropically, culturally, economically, etc).  Aside from the unfairness to current businesses already in Charlotte, they can't pay them too much in incentives (imo).

Agreed.  The side effects of having a company such as Amazon (at that size) in Charlotte would ripple for decades.  Someone will give them everything they want and more.  I just question NC will have the want and/or firepower to match Texas, Ohio, etc.  Our GA seems to be as anti-city as any in the country.  I have a real tough time imagining reps from Henderson county agreeing to give Charlotte more incentive tax money from the state.

5 hours ago, HighRiseHillbilly said:

I was thinking about this the other night. That's not a side effect that we need right now. Although I would LOVE for this to happen, Charlotte is an amazing city that will continue to improve and attract major players, so either way, we are on the winning team.

Yep, it's the negative side of that kind of expansive growth.  It's not like there are 50,000, highly qualified unemployed Charlotteans, waiting for Amazon to get there.  Added strains on transit, general infrastructure (schools, hospitals, etc) and the previously mentioned housing market are going to occur if the city landed the company.

 

The locals I've talked to here certainly acknowledge and appreciate what Amazon brings to the city, but they also gripe quite a bit about the negatives that growth brings.  And it's not unwarranted.  Unless you're pulling 6 figures, you flat out cannot buy a house in Seattle.  I lived like a king in Charlotte, haha.

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Actually NC Legislature passed an incentive program for large employers like automakers or Foxconn which went to Wisconsin but this would apply to Amazon. 

Here is the information from the Biz Journal article June 29 2017

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/06/29/the-budget-bill-provision-that-could-lure.html

As Republicans override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto and put the official stamp of approval on North Carolina’s $23 billion budget, economic developers are eyeing a new incentives provision – and what it might mean regarding a mystery project considering the state for thousands of jobs.

N.C. Commerce Department’s David Rhoades explains that the provision will extend the Job Development Investment Grant term for certain companies planning to invest more than $4 billion and create at least 5,000 jobs in the state. Grants for those firms could run up to 25 years as opposed to a normal JDIG term of 12 years.

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16 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Charlotte is not attractive enough to young people??? Huh? Number one metro in the country in attracting millenials. 

Im curious where your data is derived from.  According to the Urban Land Institute (cited in This Time article from June), Charlotte ranks 18th in relative growth of population of 25-34 year olds.  Still not too shabby, but behind even Raleigh and a far cry from #1 "in the country."

 

14 hours ago, Scribe said:

I think Denver would be a dumb choice for Amazon - a great choice for an east coast company trying to have a 2nd HQ closer to west coast tho...

I think a lot of people are relatively naive about geography when it comes to "the West Coast."  For starters, I don't think people realize that it is roughly the same distance from Charlotte to Denver (1500 miles) as it is from Denver to Seattle (1300 miles).

I personally believe Denver is in the top 3 candidates for HQ2 for various reasons, all of which are based on statistical data.  I'd love to see Charlotte land Amazon, but as someone else mentioned they are the quintessential dark horse candidate.  I am all for rooting for the home team, however gratuitous 'fanboy' banter passing anecdotal info off as fact is not only sophomoric at its most basic, but also counterproductive to the outcome we see as our ultimate goal.

Having said that, this is just my two cents and I will certainly eat crow if/when Charlotte is announced the winner later on in 2018.

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1 hour ago, queensguy06 said:

Im curious where your data is derived from.  According to the Urban Land Institute (cited in This Time article from June), Charlotte ranks 18th in relative growth of population of 25-34 year olds.  Still not too shabby, but behind even Raleigh and a far cry from #1 "in the country."

 

I think a lot of people are relatively naive about geography when it comes to "the West Coast."  For starters, I don't think people realize that it is roughly the same distance from Charlotte to Denver (1500 miles) as it is from Denver to Seattle (1300 miles).

I personally believe Denver is in the top 3 candidates for HQ2 for various reasons, all of which are based on statistical data.  I'd love to see Charlotte land Amazon, but as someone else mentioned they are the quintessential dark horse candidate.  I am all for rooting for the home team, however gratuitous 'fanboy' banter passing anecdotal info off as fact is not only sophomoric at its most basic, but also counterproductive to the outcome we see as our ultimate goal.

Having said that, this is just my two cents and I will certainly eat crow if/when Charlotte is announced the winner later on in 2018.

Millenial growth in Charlotte

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2016/11/16/millennial-magnet-charlotte-ranks-as-top-city-in.html

For me my thinking Denver is in the Mtn Time zone and is full of people from California and the west coast. To tap a different labor pool and be closer to the majority of Amazon clients which would be on the east coast I believe this new HQ will be in the eastern time zone and this would make it easier to communicate with Europe as well. 

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16 hours ago, ah59396 said:

If Charlotte landed Amazon, I'd be stunned.  The superblock they have here in downtown is next level, it's completely transformed SLU.

 

59b6e473ca608_7ef8dbd0-9436-11e7-b343-b7c75282038d(2).thumb.jpg.c4fab1a023827b08a08aaa9d52120baf.jpg

 

 

Make no mistake though, whatever city gets the new Amazon HQ will be based on one primary component....tax incentives.   Jeff Bezos didn't become of the richest people on the planet because of poor business practices.  Amazon didn't quietly start looking around, they announced it publicly.  They want this to be an all out war between US/Canadian cities to attract Amazon.  I can't even begin to imagine what the incentives package will look like.

 

I am hopeful it'll cool the housing prices out here though.  Which have exploded since Amazon really started to expand.  Arguably one of the few downsides of attracting a monster the size of Amazon, you'll get a massive influx of new, well paid residents, seeking housing.  Great if you own and plan to sell some day, real bad if you rent.  Could be the beginning of the end for Charlotte's known affordability.

"Meanwhile, home prices in Seattle have risen 47% to an average of $667,488 since 2007, according to the Cost of Living Index by the Council for Community and Economic Research."

As the guy who loves trying to figure out where to fit our MLB/MLS stadium pipe dreams by drawing it out on the map, I found this site that allegedly tells you the acreage to a space drawn through Google maps.  So let's see what everyone's 100 acre HQ2 looks like in Charlotte while we wildly speculate :)

https://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-area-calculator-tool.htm

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This does need its own category as this discussion is as Toz said  the city version of the Bachelor and will suck up all the other weekly good news we have in this area.  I checked Nashville and Raleigh and most there believe it will come to their town respectively.    

Every week companies are expanding and relocating and I hope the Chamber and the state dont forget those as they continue to diversify our economy and there are going to be a LOT of losers in this race with Amazon and just one winner take all. 

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