Following today’s announcement that Amazon, online retailer of everything under the sun, is looking for a place to build a second corporate headquarters, the Los Angeles Times reports LA wants to be among the frontrunners for the estimated $5-billion complex.
“I can confirm we are planning to bid,” Alex Comisar, a spokesman for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told the Times.
The company is looking for a site that can initially accommodate at least 500,000 square feet, with a total build-out of 8 million square feet—roughly the size of eight Broadway Trade Centers—by 2027. (Where would we even put that?) (And, really, does Amazon need two West Coast headquarters?)
LA does meet some of the retail giant’s criteria. Amazon says it’s looking for cities with populations above 1 million and within 45 minutes of an international airport. “A highly educated labor pool is critical and a strong university system is required” nearby as well.
Also working for LA is that it’s close to existing Amazon fulfillment centers in the Inland Empire and Riverside County.
The Times notes that high housing costs might keep much of California out of the running, though Amazon has said that these corporate jobs will pay annual salaries that top $100,000.
If LA were to beat out other competitors like Chicago and Atlanta, Amazon’s impact on the area would be incredible.
“In terms of the importance to the city, I think the Olympics [in 2028] would pale against this,” Lloyd Greif, head of the Los Angeles investment bank Greif & Co. and a former chair of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, told the Times.
Amazon says its second headquarters will be “a full equal” to its primary Seattle campus, a $4-billion, 33-building project which includes a newly built tower with more on the way, and in-the-works glass spheres that will hold botanical gardens for Amazon employees.
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