Will Amazon choose Irvine?

aquabliss

Well-known member
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170907005717/en/

They already have an office near spectrum so they know the lay of the land.  Get ready for a home price surge if 50k new tech employees need housing.

I guess the issue would be space, but $ can solve that.  I can see them building a campus across from Laguna Altura.  I think they could get it re-zoned if needed.  Plus it's down the street from a flagship Whole Foods.

Mr Bezos, if you're reading this feel free to PM me with any questions. 

 
If this happened other tech companies will follow.

IF Irvine is even in the running we should give every incentive we possibly can at them.
 
Irvine, have all the required recipes in the requirements.

Irvine political leaders should put in every efforts and incentives to bring Amazon here.

Aqua you are right, the lands can be solved by rezone. Plus there are many lots under development in the Great Park area.

Not too many places in North America, have the locations and the talents beside Irvine to build upon. This is a golden opportunity

for Irvine and FivePoint all together.
 
Compressed-Village said:
Irvine, have all the required recipes in the requirements.

Irvine political leaders should put in every efforts and incentives to bring Amazon here.

Aqua you are right, the lands can be solved by rezone. Plus there are many lots under development in the Great Park area.

Not too many places in North America, have the locations and the talents beside Irvine to build upon. This is a golden opportunity

for Irvine and FivePoint all together.

What did the state do for: Tesla factory and Toyota.

 
eyephone said:
Compressed-Village said:
Irvine, have all the required recipes in the requirements.

Irvine political leaders should put in every efforts and incentives to bring Amazon here.

Aqua you are right, the lands can be solved by rezone. Plus there are many lots under development in the Great Park area.

Not too many places in North America, have the locations and the talents beside Irvine to build upon. This is a golden opportunity

for Irvine and FivePoint all together.

What did the state do for: Tesla factory and Toyota.

which is why it's just a dream at this point.. but hey.. lotto fever!  ;)
 
eyephone said:
Compressed-Village said:
Irvine, have all the required recipes in the requirements.

Irvine political leaders should put in every efforts and incentives to bring Amazon here.

Aqua you are right, the lands can be solved by rezone. Plus there are many lots under development in the Great Park area.

Not too many places in North America, have the locations and the talents beside Irvine to build upon. This is a golden opportunity

for Irvine and FivePoint all together.

What did the state do for: Tesla factory and Toyota.

God, I hope the stupids learn from their mistakes.
 
Not a chance in hell.

Amazon said it would prioritize bids from metropolitan areas with more than one million people; regions that provide a "stable and business-friendly environment"; urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent; and communities that "think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options."
https://youtu.be/nFTRwD85AQ4
 
This is in some way a math problem. From ZH Article at the very bottom (not reposted as it was a re-hash of other data) :

"The company?s Seattle headquarters is spread across 8.1 million square feet in 33 buildings and employs more than 40,000 people"

They are talking about employing 50,000 people at HQ2. Assume then up to 10m SF of commercial space and perhaps 40+ buildings. Irvine isn't capable of providing this kind of space, unless there are wipeouts of some of the airport area low rise buildings and replacement by gigantic high rises. If TIC wanted this in OC, and if I'm not mistaken on ownership rights, they could "gift" the land bordering the 241 South to Irvine Blvd, just past Portola Springs up to the Lake Forest border. A better site IMHO is the space between the 241 and the 91. It's partially dug out already and formerly scheduled for a master planned community. Freeway close by Irvine, SB, LA, and all places in between.

Keeping HQ2 near the Port of Los Angeles as well as Irvine makes sense in many ways. Irvine already has a significant Amazon presence. Bear in mind the article did not say 50,000 high tech workers. Someone's got to offload, distribute, and send stuff to the four corners of the planet. They already have a big distribution center in the I.E. If it was in California, and in the So Cal region, somewhere in either the I.E. might be the right spot. Perhaps Ventura - LA close, but still lots of room to build.

On a strictly "money play" basis it's got to be Taxas err Texas, somewhere in the NE as a revitalization project (pennies to build and low wage environment), or New Jersey, given access to the ports there.

My .02c

Soylent Green Is People







 
Wow, that really puts a perspective on the scale.  That sounds more like a SimCity Arcology than an HQ.

Let's repurpose the great park from homes to an Arc.
 
It would be really exciting if Amazon pick Irvine but there's no chance it will happen. 

They already has a HQ in the west coast, more likely they will pick a location in the East coast.  CA's tax, wages and Irvine's real estate prices don't help either. 
 
Let's review a few other inconvenient facts about Irvine as a tech hub:

-The houses are boring cookie cutter designs with 50 shades of beige to choose from.  Tech employees want a vibrant city that is stylish and trendy.

-Irvine is destroying cultural institutions like Irvine Meadows and Wild Rivers, instead of building them up.  Tech employees want fun, cultural activities nearby.  A big orange balloon doesn't cut it!

-Amazon's current HQ is in a tax free state.  California is a high tax state at 13%.  Doh!
 
iacrenter said:
Dallas, TX. Low taxes, lots of space, DFW international airport, several universities.

This is the safe bet, except Dallas isn't known for having a large pool of tech talent.  It would require another mass migration of employees from the West Coast to fill those jobs.  Austin does have some talent, but not enough to staff all 50,000 jobs in Dallas.
 
What about somewhere in Virginia?  Mostly suburban feel wit proximity to several urban centers.  It's on the other coast.  Lots of universities. 

 
I used to work for Capital Group at Sand Canyon and they chose San Antonio for their mega campus.

My current employer in Irvine chose Dallas for the new campus.  The city gave the company financial incentive to move at least 1,600 employees there.

Having numerous experienced IT workers here in LA/OC doesn't guarantee companies will open, stay, or hire here.  Numerous positions have been out-sourced to IBM, Dell (NTT Data), Cognizant, TCS (Tata), and EPAM.

Companies like Amazon hire local talent, but it has been estimated to destroys 5 jobs for every one that it creates.  There are plenty of horror stories from ex-employees, but I can understand the company has to be ruthless to stay alive in that field.
 
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