Amazon Breaks Ground On New Office In Seaport
BOSTON (CBS) -- Amazon executives, along with Gov. Charlie Baker and Mayor Marty Walsh, broke ground on the company's new building in Boston's Seaport.
The small crowd celebrated by throwing confetti after speakers praised the company and the city for their collaborative efforts.
"This building that's going up here represents something that's important to the future of our city. The numbers are big, you heard about it: almost 2,000 Amazon jobs and opportunities. Just as important, Boston is becoming a leader in the field of artificial intelligence, robotics, and digital healthcare," said Walsh.
He added, "It is about a partnership... It's about collaboration. It's about moving forward. It's about if you have differences, don't air them out in public, air them out behind the scenes and get to yes. And that's what we're trying to do here in the city and certainly with the state as well."
The Seaport building is expected to open in 2021 with 430,000 square feet of state of the art workspace. A park with an acre and a half of green space in front of the harbor will be created as well.
According to the mayor, these jobs are different than what the second Amazon headquarters would have created and are more technical in nature.
Walsh also pointed out Amazon's partnership with the community, their job training initiatives, and the money invested in putting more A.P. opportunities in Boston classrooms.
"There will be kids that are working or young people that are working in our city right now who are going to school that will be working in these jobs behind us. They will be trained, and skilled, [and will] be able to handle these jobs. And that's important," said Walsh.
Boston site leader for Amazon Mike Touloumtzis also mentioned the importance of that workforce.
"Amazon is investing in Massachusetts and the Greater Boston area because of the exceptionally talented workforce that exists here," he said.
Baker echoed the sentiment: "If you look at any ranking of almost anything that has to do with STEM -- science, technology, engineering, and math -- you will always find that Massachusetts is either number one, number two or number three."
He also mentioned the benefit of the project even for people that will not work there.
"Everything that we're putting into this project really relates to transportation betterments that will certainly enhance the nature of this project but will also provide public benefits to everybody who works or who lives or who accesses transportation or who gets in and out of here either publicly or privately as a result of that particular initiative," Baker said.
According to Walsh, the tax agreement put in place has benefited both the company and the government. About $4.4 million towards affordable housing will help with "inclusive growth."
"This project benefits everybody in the city of Boston."
Amazon has been operating out of Cambridge since 2012.
