Will Amazon choose Irvine?

I'm sure Bezos already has his location picked out and is using this "bidding process" as leverage against his chosen locale.  The same thing happens in the NFL and NBA and he's just using their same model to pass the development cost onto the "lucky" taxpayers of whatever city he has already chosen.
 
Google and Apple don't need California tax breaks. All of their IP is in Ireland or other tax favorable international jurisdictions. They make the US company pay a fee for the use of the IP and the income is then transferred to Ireland.

Most US companies have a blended effective tax rate of 3-5%. Its escaping the federal taxes where the money is.

best_potsticker_in_town said:
It's interesting...if a company wants to be HQ'd in California - they will be in CA. In the bay area, off the top of my head, I can think of Google and Salesforce. Both of these companies do not get much in the form of tax breaks from the city or state, but they continue to invest. Google is building a new campus in downtown San Jose to employ 20k workers. Salesforce is close to completing Salesforce Tower to increase their SF-based employee count to nearly 15k workers.

If companies want to invest in California, they will do so regardless of the bottom line. That said, Amazon's "thrifty-ness" has been well documented. I would love to see Amazon in Irvine - it'll increase housing prices like crazy and you'll even see surrounding cities like Santa Ana, Fullerton, and Anaheim thrive (see Oakland and the East Bay in the bay area). Realistically, I see their new HQ going to Texas or Vegas...
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Bullsback said:
I don't look forward to traffic, but more jobs and good jobs in the area would be a major boom.
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The thing with traffic, is that I believe it'll be bad eventually anyways.  It's not like the Broadcom building will be vacant forever. Or they'll not build commercial spaces (look at the Sand Canyon buildings, several are almost up).

On the flip side, when large companies relocate and leave like Toyota or Nissan in South Bay, did the 405 become free flowing around that area?
 
Liar Loan said:
I've been recruited by the Amazon location in Irvine in the past, but the reputation of a cutthroat environment does not excite me at all.  I'll stick with the mortgage biz thank you very much.
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The mortgage biz is not cutthroat? Interesting. :)
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Liar Loan said:
I've been recruited by the Amazon location in Irvine in the past, but the reputation of a cutthroat environment does not excite me at all.  I'll stick with the mortgage biz thank you very much.
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The mortgage biz is not cutthroat? Interesting. :)
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It would depend on the company, but the better run places are not.  They instead have a more team oriented atmosphere.  I've worked in both types of places actually, and while the cutthroat atmosphere does improve your skills, it also takes a toll on your mental health.  In the long run, it's not the type of thing I want to be a part of.  In the short run sometimes it's necessary, such as to stay employed when 80% of the industry is being laid off during the Great Recession.
 
I'm with LL on this one. Amazon likely has made the decision and just letting everyone promise the world then pressuring their preferred choice into making the same deal.

"It's not personal, it's business"
 
Liar Loan said:
I'm sure Bezos already has his location picked out and is using this "bidding process" as leverage against his chosen locale.  The same thing happens in the NFL and NBA and he's just using their same model to pass the development cost onto the "lucky" taxpayers of whatever city he has already chosen.
Click to expand...

Same model as the NBA and NFL? The taxpayers will vote to approve taxes to be used to build a new stadium. In this case Amazon's second headquarters. I say that won't happen. But potentially taxpayers monies might be used to subsidized the package it gives Amazon.
 
Good luck recruiting 50K employees to move to OC to rent a 2 bedroom apt for 3K. Will not come to Irvine...most likely somewhere like Raleigh-Durham, NC.
 
It's going to be about the available talent pool over taxes or anything else. If you're trying to grow a lot of new multi-billion business lines and ideas, you need an employee base that can make that happen. I wouldn't rule out LA or OC.
 
Halos said:
Good luck recruiting 50K employees to move to OC to rent a 2 bedroom apt for 3K. Will not come to Irvine...most likely somewhere like Raleigh-Durham, NC.
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I don't think OC would have any problem recruiting talent of all levels.  With that said, I think the Research Triangle and VA/DC would be great options on the other coast.
 
I think only a small percentage of 50k employees they are hiring requires special talent/skills and Irvine can easily fulfill that.

But the majority of hired are low skill workers and their salary are tied closely to minimal wages.  And CA's $15 minimal wages will cost Amazon dearly if they pick any cities in CA. 
 
lnc said:
I think only a small percentage of 50k employees they are hiring requires special talent/skills and Irvine can easily fulfill that.

But the majority of hired are low skill workers and their salary are tied closely to minimal wages.  And CA's $15 minimal wages will cost Amazon dearly if they pick any cities in CA.
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From what I read, it's not low skill/min wage jobs or anything like the distribution/fulfillment center in I.E. it'll be a real deal HQ type jobs that you'll find in Cupertino, Menlo Park, Bellevue, Redmond, SJC,... jobs requiring a degree, management, directors, VP's, executives, people who can actually buy in HC or Bella Vista without money coming from another country, so it's a pretty big economic impact
 
eyephone said:
Liar Loan said:
I'm sure Bezos already has his location picked out and is using this "bidding process" as leverage against his chosen locale.  The same thing happens in the NFL and NBA and he's just using their same model to pass the development cost onto the "lucky" taxpayers of whatever city he has already chosen.
Click to expand...

Same model as the NBA and NFL? The taxpayers will vote to approve taxes to be used to build a new stadium. In this case Amazon's second headquarters. I say that won't happen. But potentially taxpayers monies might be used to subsidized the package it gives Amazon.
Click to expand...

Yes, just like Wisconsin and Foxxcon, what's the running rate on that 'deal'? A little over a million dollars per job in government benefits
 
AW said:
lnc said:
I think only a small percentage of 50k employees they are hiring requires special talent/skills and Irvine can easily fulfill that.

But the majority of hired are low skill workers and their salary are tied closely to minimal wages.  And CA's $15 minimal wages will cost Amazon dearly if they pick any cities in CA.
Click to expand...
From what I read, it's not low skill/min wage jobs or anything like the distribution/fulfillment center in I.E. it'll be a real deal HQ type jobs that you'll find in Cupertino, Menlo Park, Bellevue, Redmond, SJC,... jobs requiring a degree, management, directors, VP's, executives, people who can actually buy in HC or Bella Vista without money coming from another country, so it's a pretty big economic impact
Click to expand...

Yup HQ white collar jobs.
 
nosuchreality said:
eyephone said:
Liar Loan said:
I'm sure Bezos already has his location picked out and is using this "bidding process" as leverage against his chosen locale.  The same thing happens in the NFL and NBA and he's just using their same model to pass the development cost onto the "lucky" taxpayers of whatever city he has already chosen.
Click to expand...

Same model as the NBA and NFL? The taxpayers will vote to approve taxes to be used to build a new stadium. In this case Amazon's second headquarters. I say that won't happen. But potentially taxpayers monies might be used to subsidized the package it gives Amazon.
Click to expand...

Yes, just like Wisconsin and Foxxcon, what's the running rate on that 'deal'? A little over a million dollars per job in government benefits
Click to expand...

The Foxconn incentive didn't go on the ballot. There was a measure to try to keep ththe Chargers in San Diego.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.sand...-me-election-chargers-20161106-story,amp.html
 
I think it's interesting that a corporate relocation is helping Irvine and LA think big in terms of land use. For cities of this size, that's something I have only seen for large sporting events (Olympics, NFL franchise). UCI happened before I was born, but I suppose that counts too. I guess the closest I have seen is that sweetheart deal for Fletcher Jones's "new" location when the City of NB didn't want to lose the sales tax revenue.
 
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