Amazon Effect part 15… This past week every city/state/province has been talking about the Amazon 20 and where HQ2 will end up. Everyone’s views differ on this subject but here are mine:
Being from Boston and having lived in Manhattan for a few years, I think that NY, NJ, MA are all terrible decisions for different reasons. I understand the logic behind them, however, all 3 are far too overpopulated, the 4 airports (6 if you include CT and RI) between them cannot handle the amount of foot traffic that Amazon will bring/need, and beside the MTA, the other public transits are simply not reliable enough to handle 50k more people.
I won’t bore you with full explanations on why I believe or don’t believe in each location ,but my top 3 in no particular order are:
Dallas, Miami, and Washington D.C.
Dallas-
Pros: 2 airports (1 international); close proximity to Mexico and middle of the country to get anywhere in the US within 5 hours flying time; shipping ports 4-6 hours South; have enough land to build and house all new employees/HQ buildings; have enough people to likely fill the 50k jobs being brought; great proximity to many Corporate HQs in DFW; Trinity River Park
Cons: DART is not reliable and does not reach a large enough target; not far enough East that it would make complete sense; location would likely be Victory Park or Las Colinas which are both not exactly the location Amazon is seeking
Miami-
Pros: Booming city; International airport and large shipping hub; easy flights to East Coast, Islands, and Europe; have enough land/redevelopment that they could easily accomodate
Cons: Metrorail (don’t know too much about it); Hurricanes/Natural Disasters are a large worry down here; Cost of living is high downtown
Washington D.C.-
Pros: 2 large airports and many others close by; great proximity to many Corporate HQs in Alexandria; East Coast access; M-Metro
Cons: Building heights due to the height restriction laws; shipping ports (Potomac is a pain); not much area to build downtown.
Below are a few articles that I found interesting this week:
Breaking News: Amazon Narrows HQ2 Search to 20 Markets
Japanese retailer to enter the United States
Kroger is said to consider buying online wholesaler Boxed for up to $500 million
Amazon to pop 23% this year to near $800 billion value on new advertising venture, analyst says
The Energizer Bunny Is Buying Rayovac in a $2 Billion Deal
Why the death of retail jobs may be greatly exaggerated
DFW Retail Occupancy in 2017 Was Second-Highest in 30-plus Years, Weitzman Report Says
Apple is now free to bring home its overseas cash — here’s what it might do with it
What have you been reading this week? Please comment below with any interesting articles or topics you would like to see covered.
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Tim Lepore 