At least a dozen North Texas cities are hoping to score what could be the Super Bowl of jobs: luring Amazon HQ2, its second corporate headquarters.
Amazon is talking about offering up to 50,000 jobs with salaries and total compensation of $100,000 and investing up to $5 billion.
Jon Hetzel of Madison Partners says, “We’re insanely excited about the prospect of them coming to our neighborhood and to the city of Dallas.”
Hetzel believes his company has the perfect place for Amazon to build: Exposition Park, which is near I-30, downtown Dallas, and Deep Ellum.
A DART rail station is less than a block away, along with Fair Park and a bike trail.
Light rail, bike trails and cultural centers are among Amazon’s requirements.
Hetzel says, “We truly have multi-modal transportation in this area from light rail, to ten bus stops, to the dedicated bike trail. We feel we’re the only site that can provide those things for Amazon.”
Madison Partners is one of a variety of developers who want to lureAmazon.
To start, the company plans on opening its first phase in 2019 with 500,000 square feet, then gradually expand to eight million square feet of office space beyond 2027.
The online retailer keeps growing and opening new fulfillment centers here in North Texas and nationwide.
It’s Seattle headquarters will remain with 40,000 employees.
The city of Frisco placed its video pitch on YouTube.
The city says it’s submitting six proposals to the Dallas Regional Chamber, which is coordinating the effort for North Texas.
At least four proposals are being publicized in the city of Dallas.
Fort Worth is submitting eight proposals for the project.
Carrollton and Lewisville are each pitching two plans, and the cities of Arlington and Plano say they will submit proposals, too.
The cities must send their pitches to the Dallas Regional Chamber by this Friday.
The Chamber will then submit them to Amazon by October 19.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price says she’s not surprised so many cities are competing for Amazon. “Why wouldn’t they consider it? Fourth busiest region in the nation. fourth largest metropolitan region behind Chicago, and one of the youngest metropolitan regions.”
Experts have said they believe DFW is competing against Atlanta and Denver.
Brandom Gengelbach, Executive Vice President of Economic Development at the Fort Worth Chamber says the DFW region has a lot to offer. “From a strength standpoint, it’s our talent. We’ve got a 7.2 million population labor pool to pull from. That’s a big reason why we’re teaming together as a region.”
While Hetzel hopes his property lands the project, he says it would be a victory if any of the North Texas cities is selected. “It’s a total game-changer for this city and the region and the state as a whole if it were to happen.”
Courtesy of Jack Fink // CBS