Developer: Philadelphia 'Has A Real Shot' At Amazon's Second Headquarters
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- One of the stakeholder developers in the next round of the Amazon HQ2 competition thinks Philadelphia "has a real shot."
But, he says the online retail giant will make up its own timeline for deciding.
As Amazon ponders the three local sites pitched -- the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia, as well as Schuylkill Yards and City Square in University City -- the developer of the Navy Yard location, chief executive William Hankowsky of Liberty Property Trust, says Amazon is "cost conscious, so incentives will matter."
"Will it be $1 billion, which has been floated, $5 billion like Newark?" asked KYW Newsradio reporter Steve Tawa.
"I'm not going to put a number on it. Jersey has been public about it. Pennsylvania has not been public," said Hankowsky.
Hankowsky says he's not a "believer in unilateral disarmament."
"So, until every other of the 20 put on the table what they did, why should we put what we did? Also, from an Amazon perspective, they don't expect that to happen," said Hankowsky.
He says incentives should not "trump fundamentals," including the sites, talent pool, logistics, transportation and housing.
Hankowsky doesn't think it'll turn into a "bidding war or poker game" among the remaining contenders on the short list. He believes Amazon is evaluating the proposals and "a dialogue will ensue."
"That dialogue could create the need to adjust. Amazon could seek an accelerated highway improvement, 'Get us this or that, or make an adjustment to this or that, to make it work for us better.' I could see that interaction, but I don't think communities will be bidding against each other, and everybody is playing poker. I don't think it's a poker game," he said.
And Hankowsky believes Philadelphia will respond better than others.