Amazon has 5 billion to spend on a massive campus that will serve as a second Headquarters. The new HQ location could bring 50,000 jobs to the city.
In choosing the location, the company says it will look for a city with more than one million people, a business-friendly environment, and an urban or suburban location “with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent.” It also says HQ2 could be, but does not have to be, an urban or downtown campus and a similar layout to the Seattle headquarters.
“We expect HQ2 to be a full equal to our Seattle headquarters,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. The Seattle headquarters is 8.1 million square feet and includes 33 buildings.
Living in Houston I am biased towards the Austin location. I would prefer Houston but Austin is close enough. Katy Texas, near Houston, is getting a massive Amazon distribution center so that's good too. In the end, it will come down to which city gives the best tax incentives. Local and state governments are tripping over each other making bids. Let the bidding war begin.