Amazon reveals top 20 cities that could be next location of new HQ; Odds are out

[brooks85]

Here are the Paddy Power betting odds for each of the final 20 locations:

• Boston: 3/1
• Austin, Texas: 7/2
• Atlanta: 7/2
• Montgomery County, Maryland: 8/1
• Pittsburgh: 8/1
• Washington, D.C.: 10/1
• Philadelphia: 14/1
• New York City: 14/1
• Toronto: 14/1
• Chicago: 16/1
• Denver: 16/1
• Newark, New Jersey: 16/1
• Columbus, Ohio: 20/1
• Los Angeles: 20/1
• Nashville: 20/1
• Indianapolis: 20/1
• Raleigh, North Carolina: 20/1
• Dallas: 20/1
• Northern Virginia: 20/1
• Miami: 20/1

[hotcross]

will it be one of these 20 or is there any possibility of a yet to be named location?

Columbus is a good bet

[brooks85]

from their release it should be one of these 20 and no others


and I think Columbus is a very good bet especially at 20/1. Depends how serious they are with the tax breaks, however, that also depends on how much amazon is weighing the tax breaks.


Atlanta: Atlanta's mayor, Kasim Reed, said the city would offer incentives and development that would be worth more than $1 billion. In Stonecrest, a Georgia city about 20 miles east of Atlanta, the mayor offered to rename it "Amazon" and instate Jeff Bezos as the permanent mayor.
Austin, Texas: Austin hasn't publicly disclosed any type of tax incentive or break for Amazon. In its bid, the city decided to tout its culture, instead. The city's mayor, Steve Adler, said it's offering Amazon a chance to be the "social fabric and future" of Austin.
Boston: The city proposed an "Amazon Task Force" in its 109-page bid. It would essentially entail paid city staffers whose sole purpose is to represent Amazon's interests to Boston's government.
Chicago: The city offered $2 billion in tax breaks, and suggested it could go even higher than that.
Columbus, Ohio: The Midwestern city offered Amazon tax breaks for 15 years, including 100 percent property tax abatement, and a 35 percent income tax refund. These offers would save Amazon millions in taxes for more than a decade.
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Dallas: Similar to Austin, Dallas is also not offering any major tax break. Instead, it's pushing on its city's merits.
Denver: The city is offering "performance-based incentives," which isn't exactly a special break for Amazon. It's relying on the state's Strategic Fund Incentive and Job Growth Incentive Tax Credit, offered to any business that comes to Colorado. These incentives can save Amazon more than $100 million in taxes.
Indianapolis: It's keeping its bid details secret.
Los Angeles: The Southern California city has kept its offers under wraps, but has indicated it would provide "costs and incentives" to Amazon. There are no specific details on how much that would entail.
Miami: It's keeping its bid details secret.
Montgomery County, Maryland: Bethesda Magazine's Bethesda Beat received the bid through a public records request with the government. The state redacted all information on financial and tax incentives. But at least we know there are incentive offers.
Nashville, Tennessee: The Music City's officials actually frowned on all the tax incentives being offered, calling it "absurd" in one interview. Instead, they're pitching to Amazon based on the city's development and steady population growth.

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Newark, New Jersey: This is the big one. Newark is offering Amazon $7 billion in tax incentives, the largest one among all 238 cities that made a bid.
New York: Other than the orange light-up show Mayor Bill de Blasio pulled off, the city is also offering lots of space, both for development and housing for potential employees moving there.
Northern Virginia: It's keeping its bid details a secret.
Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Inquirer received a heavily redacted document after it made a public records request to the city. But the pitch did offer up 280,000 square feet of office space at the 30th Street Station building, along with up to 4.2 million square feet of development space across the city.
Pittsburgh: It's keeping its bid details a secret, but noted that its tax incentives make a "very competitive package."
Raleigh, North Carolina: It's keeping its bid details a secret, and has denied 11 out of 15 public records requests from WRAL.
Toronto: Toronto is the only Canadian city listed as a finalist, and a good chunk of its pitch relies on that appeal. There are no tax subsidies in its pitch, but the city's officials point to its lower corporate tax rates compared to the US, as well as its universal health care.
Washington: The bid noted "significant tax breaks," though details were redacted in the public records provided to WAMU. The records also pitched creating an "Amazon University," which would train and create a direct pipeline of people to work at Amazon.

[Crusherrr]

Newark or Columbus if I were to wager on it.

[daneblazer]

Nashville or Atlanta

[brooks85]

yeah Atlanta seems like a rightful favorite.

Have to hope bezos isn't making the decision solely on the incentives being offered. Either way Atlanta is a real contender. They have georgia tech right in Atlanta and they are around a top 10 computer science school in multiple fields.

[survive]

Surprised Boston is the favorite. If Chicago didn’t have the left blowing up the fiscal problems then I think it’d be the easy choice as it checks off just about every box of the wishlist. Heard some people saying DMV area could be the pick based on government being the largest amazon customer and bezos living there

[Ralphie Halves]

When I was back in my hometown of St. Louis, they really thought they were in the running. The governor said they would even build the country's first hyperloop from St. Louis to Kansas City if they got chosen.

No wonder they didn't get nominated.

[Ralphie Halves]

Will be interesting to see if Nashville's "You want us more than we want you" approach works at all.

[ikid2groove415]

San Francisco Bay Area not in here? Tech Mecca of the world!!

[grease lightnin]

Best value in Indy

[ikid2groove415]

Amazon is basicly the Walmart version of the internet !!

[grease lightnin]

Amazon is basicly the Walmart version of the internet !!

This guy is sharp

[Ralphie Halves]

San Francisco Bay Area not in here? Tech Mecca of the world!!

Looking for laborers and office types more than tech people.

[NrmlCurvSurfr]

Amazon is basicly the Walmart version of the internet !!

It’s in everyone’s home, and with you when you are away...it’s brilliant

[jjgold]

Most likely Austin in my opinion

[MinnesotaFats]

Ill take anything in Texas or Nashville.

Its South or SE USA

Everyone leaving for this region (s) including educated kids now.

[Ralphie Halves]

I think a better move would be to bring it to areas that aren't tech hubs like Austin, and into areas that really need the jobs.

Like I said, hub #2 is mostly for warehousing and cubicle jobs. Doesn't need to be someplace trendy.

And for the love of God, give them tax breaks. It's the reason why they're doing it here in the fist place, and not somewhere overseas.

[brooks85]

^it's tough to say what bezos is really looking for. Amazon mentioned their criteria but we don't know what will really be the deciding factor.


I look at it as a very rich person building a custom house. They don't give a hoot about tax laws, they will take the location they want. Tax breaks and incentives are great but I wonder how much they will really factor in the decision. I can't imagine bezos picking one city over another one that he actually wants because of some extra tax breaks when you consider the size of amazon.

[jjgold]

no way they are going to any ghetto areas or high tax state

[kidcudi92]

Best value in Indy

[SBR Drew]

Guys Philadelphia is my call. It is few hours away from many major cities and it would be ideal.

[Booya711]

Many companies moving to Texas....tax benefits mean everything

[brooks85]

Surprised Boston is the favorite. If Chicago didn’t have the left blowing up the fiscal problems then I think it’d be the easy choice as it checks off just about every box of the wishlist. Heard some people saying DMV area could be the pick based on government being the largest amazon customer and bezos living there

I wasn't sure what DMV area was but yes that is a real contender


If bezos picks DC or the two surrounding areas you can bet the shadiness is only beginning.

[downsouth]

There gonn blister whatever city "wins" them for multiple billions of tax breaks and everything else.

For such a liberal guy you would think they would rather that money go to education and such.

[Ralphie Halves]

Amazon has a responsibility to its shareholders. You bet they're going to want tax breaks.

This way, you can keep reinvesting in the business, and instead of local govts deciding where that tax money goes, Bezos can decide for himself.

[qwertvt]

Does Amazon use UPS or FedEx in conjunction with USPS?

[newguy]

Does Amazon use UPS or FedEx in conjunction with USPS?

Thought I heard they are basically starting to buy own jets and logistics.

My money would be in Nashville or Atlanta. Nashville has a ton of really good schools right near it (including Vandy which is very highly rated school). Atlanta is the feeder city for most of the south schools as well and taxes are low. I know there are more incentives elsewhere but cities like Nash or Atlanta, you can pay $25k less per head and attract same person as you would in NY/NJ/DC just because of cost of living and taxes. At 50k employees that’s $1.25bn/yr recurring in saved labor costs. It’s gotta be a low cost of living city.

[qwertvt]

I like Atlanta and Nashville as well but the odds and the cities of Philadelphia and Raleigh are also intriguing.

[wikkidinsane]

Does Amazon use UPS or FedEx in conjunction with USPS?

Yes they use Usps predominantly and also do thier own packages now.

[mrpapageorgio]

Any of the online books taking action on this besides Paddy Power?

[brooks85]

^not that I know of, SBR should

[MickeyMan]

Any of the online books taking action on this besides Paddy Power?

Pinny is