Bay Area Shut Out In Quest For New Amazon Headquarters
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- After reviewing some 238 proposals, Amazon announced Thursday the cities that have made its first cut for the location of its new second headquarters. Noticeably absent was the Bay Area.
The cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Fremont, Concord and Richmond had submitted a joint 150-page proposal last year featuring a number of development sites including Oakland's Coliseum City complex, Fremont's Warm Springs Innovation District, the Concord Naval Weapons Station and San Francisco's Hunters Point shipyard.
The proposal also included plans to build 45,000 housing units over the coming years and decades to accommodate Amazon's workforce, which is expected to be around 50,000 workers, and also a number of local and state tax credits.
When it put out its call for proposals, Amazon said it was looking for a metropolitan area with a population greater than 1 million people and a stable, business-friendly environment.
They also sought locations with the potential to attract and retain talent in communities that "think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options," according to a statement issued last month.
"Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough - all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity," said Holly Sullivan, Amazon Public Policy, in a press release.
Among the 20, Los Angeles was the only California city to make the cut.
The others in alphabetical order were:
- Atlanta
- Austin
- Boston
- Chicago
- Columbus
- Dallas
- Denver
- Indianapolis
- Miami
- Montgomery County, Maryland
- Nashville
- Newark, NJ
- New York City
- Northern Virginia
- Philadelphia
- Pittsburgh
- Raleigh
- Washington D.C.
Toronto also made the cut.
In the coming months, the company said, it would work with each of the candidate locations to dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information, and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership that can accommodate the company's hiring plans as well as benefit its employees and the local community.
Amazon expects to make a decision in 2018.
The company plans to invest over $5 billion and grow the second headquarters to accommodate as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs.