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Amazon's new HQ poll


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100% Chicago. Great universities (Northwestern, UChicago, etc.), great downtown area with public transport and tons of apartment capacity, two major airports, tons of add'l talent via midwest universities (Wash U, U of Illinois, Wisconsin, U of Indiana, etc etc), affordable cost of living / high quality of life, Amazon will get tons of incentives, lots of companies already in Chicago to poach from.

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Philadelphia- Low cost of living compared to NYC. Many great universities nearby. Strategically located on the East coast (near major cities).

 

In theory, the 30th Street District would be a very good fit: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/539b050fe4b077b40b221f4f/t/5762b1a2e3df2899e111bcc7/1466085819062/District+Plan+Marketing+Book_June2016_7x9_web.pdf

 

It has a huge footprint for new office space right next to a major rail hub (30th Street Station) that connects to downtown (subway, trolley), the suburbs (SEPTA regional rail) and the other cities on the eastern seaboard (AMTRAK), along with easy highway access to a large international airport.  It's also a few blocks from from one Ivy League school (Penn) and easy driving distance or an hour train ride to two more (Princeton and Columbia).  Also relatively close to two large public research universities (Penn State and Rutgers) along with loads of well-regarded liberal arts schools (e.g., Swarthmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr).  Also, right next to one of the country's leading medical research areas (e.g., UPenn Hospital, CHOP).  The suburban public schools are also almost all very good.

 

They also wouldn't have to worry about the city government enacting stuff like bathroom bills.

 

On the other hand, there is (i) massive, de facto segregation; (ii) with a few exceptions, the city public schools are a mess; and (iii) in nearly every direction between a thriving urban core and very nice suburbs is a ring of severe and seemingly intractable poverty (e.g., large swathes of West Philly, North Philly, Chester, Camden).

 

 

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I'm a little bit surprised that there are no Texas, Nevada, or Florida cities on the list as these states have no state tax.  They are also located in sunny locations with abundance of land parcels.  Being a real estate guy, I've heard the narrative in recent years that Texas and Nevada are attracting lots of companies as the regulations tend to favor businesses and land use are more flexible.  Getting a building permit in NYC requires some serious undertaking.  I think Dallas and Las Vegas should be considered as top candidates as well.  Those certainly have international airports.  Vegas is interesting as the weather is nice (though dry hot) year around.  It also helps that there is a ton of entertainment, dinning, etc that is not available in large corporate campuses elsewhere.  From a millennial perspective, it is likely attractive as well. 

 

As a HHC shareholder, I'm hoping that they somehow decide to locate HQ2 in either the Woodlands, TX, or Summerlin Las Vegas.  I would say that Summerlin, Las Vegas would have a higher chance of those two.  One can hope. 

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Added Nevada and Austin.

 

Chatted with a friend from AMZN - apparently the employees also get to vote on the location. There isn't a whole lot of enthusiasm for Toronto (weather + taxes + not US) but Boston, Austin or Denver metro area are all in play. Apparently Denver is preferable to many as it has many outdoor activities like Seattle.

 

Cost per city:

https://www.recode.net/2017/9/9/16278136/amazon-jeff-bezos-top-cities-top-new-second-headquarters

 

I'm a little bit surprised that there are no Texas, Nevada, or Florida cities on the list as these states have no state tax.  They are also located in sunny locations with abundance of land parcels.  Being a real estate guy, I've heard the narrative in recent years that Texas and Nevada are attracting lots of companies as the regulations tend to favor businesses and land use are more flexible.  Getting a building permit in NYC requires some serious undertaking.  I think Dallas and Las Vegas should be considered as top candidates as well.  Those certainly have international airports.  Vegas is interesting as the weather is nice (though dry hot) year around.  It also helps that there is a ton of entertainment, dinning, etc that is not available in large corporate campuses elsewhere.  From a millennial perspective, it is likely attractive as well. 

 

As a HHC shareholder, I'm hoping that they somehow decide to locate HQ2 in either the Woodlands, TX, or Summerlin Las Vegas.  I would say that Summerlin, Las Vegas would have a higher chance of those two.  One can hope.

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I don't think any Canadian cities would be considered. There is way to much regulatory overhead to operate it in another country. Plus the uncertainty around NAFTA make it a non-starter.

 

My top guesses would be: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Austin, Boston.

 

New York State could offer them a crazy tax package/payout to lure them in, like they did with Solar City.

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I don't think any Canadian cities would be considered. There is way to much regulatory overhead to operate it in another country. Plus the uncertainty around NAFTA make it a non-starter.

 

My top guesses would be: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Austin, Boston.

 

New York State could offer them a crazy tax package/payout to lure them in, like they did with Solar City.

 

My prediction is that one Canadian city makes the final round as a political leverage play to get Amazon more H1B visas and other things it wants.

 

There would be appetite in Calgary (lots of unemployed engineers and empty office space here) to drop a dump truck of money on them, but we're probably too small, and in Canada.

 

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Honestly I think it will be down to Austin and Northern Virginia

 

Austin: HQ to wholefoods, Blue Origin

DC/NoVA: AWS HQ, Washington Post and Bezos bought a mansion next to Obama and Ivanka.

 

philly and raleigh are possible but don't have the airports. denver and west coast is redundant at this point.

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Honestly I think it will be down to Austin and Northern Virginia

 

Austin: HQ to wholefoods, Blue Origin

DC/NoVA: AWS HQ, Washington Post and Bezos bought a mansion next to Obama and Ivanka.

 

philly and raleigh are possible but don't have the airports. denver and west coast is redundant at this point.

 

Philly and Raleigh don't have the airports but Austin does?  :o

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I'd love to see this in the Boston area (either in MA or southern NH).  The only down side is the weather.  It has access to airports (Logan & Manchester), near some of the best colleges in the world (MIT, WPI, Harvard, Tufts, Northeastern, BU, BC, Dartmouth, Brandeis, UMASS, SNHU, ... too many to list), a good large base population of tech workers to pull from.  If they locate in Southern NH their employees get no income tax, sales tax, or capital gains taxes.  Access to beaches, mountains, lakes, ocean, and lots of stuff to do.  And gives them an East Coast presence.  The downside, like I said, is the whether to some people. I happen to love the New England winters and couldn't imagine living somewhere without snow, but I know that others don't feel that way.

 

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I don't think any Canadian cities would be considered. There is way to much regulatory overhead to operate it in another country. Plus the uncertainty around NAFTA make it a non-starter.

 

My top guesses would be: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Austin, Boston.

 

New York State could offer them a crazy tax package/payout to lure them in, like they did with Solar City.

 

I'm unsure how NAFTA would impact AMZN's decision for a new HQ, and why it would hold back Canadian options. I personally believe an Ontario HQ is possible for AMZN for a variety of reasons:

 

1. Supply chain management/transfer pricing: should AMZN choose a Canadian company, it could reorganize the corp. org. structure such that all of its non-US subsidiaries are owned by the Canadian "parent". This Canadian parent can then establish pricing with those countries, and AMZN can manage global taxation in a manner that will create more efficient cash flows and taxation rates than if all of the companies are reporting elsewhere. This can work better than folks may imagine, because of Canadian tax incentives and tax policy.

 

2. SR&ED and Manufacturing tax credits: AMZN can benefit dramatically from the SR&ED and manufacturing tax credits the Canadian Income Tax Act offers, as I believe that AMZN is reaching a point where profits are now inevitable for the company (in spite of the attempt to keep the company cash flow positive/income neutral). SR&ED tax credits are quite amazing (non-refundable ITC at the basic rate of 15% on qualified SR&ED expenditures, which can be used to reduce tax payable).

 

3. Talent pool: Should Toronto be selected, AMZN will benefit from the immense pool of talent local universities provide, especially University of Waterloo (a little biased as I'm an alumnus). Many UW students leave for Silicon Valley/Seattle, because there are no real viable options in Canada. By creating a large HQ in Canada, AMZN can pull this talent into its local campus, and give those folks a reason to stay rather than head west.

 

4. Port lands/transit expansion: AMZN wants great transit and a large downtown presence, and Ontario wants to improve its transit around the city/region. Toronto has a huge area just southeast of downtown (the Port lands) that is grossly underutilized. The city has had a lot of discussion about building the area, and has started to work on new proposals. Getting AMZN into the space would accelerate the expansion into the area, and give AMZN a lot of opportunity to build its HQ how it wants.

 

 

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I am surprised not to see any mention of Indianapolis.  Very business friendly climate, educated workforce, and crossroads of America!

 

And you have two of the largest, and both top 10, engineering schools nearby--Purdue <1 hour and U of I 2 hours.

 

http://fox59.com/2017/09/11/indy-fishers-mayors-team-up-to-show-amazon-why-central-indiana-should-get-hq2/

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