Amazon planning second headquarters with 50,000 jobs

[CroFlames]

Since when did we start calling office towers and buildings campuses? I thought only universities had campuses.

[rotten42]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

Or they could literally take all of Brookfield Place....the city's largest building.

Cenovous might have something to say about that.

[MacDaddy77]

Originally Posted by rotten42

Cenovous might have something to say about that.

For sure,

They'd say YES PLEASE! here's our lease takeover agreement sign here and laugh all the way out the door

[GGG]

Originally Posted by rotten42

Cenovous might have something to say about that.

They would

"Thank You"

[rotten42]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

For sure,

They'd say YES PLEASE! here's our lease takeover agreement sign here and laugh all the way out the door

They are past that point in their planning now. If I recall correctly they are taking 13 floors.

[MacDaddy77]

most likely because they're already locked in to paying for it. if they could get out of the lease they would and take office space elsewhere

[rotten42]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

most likely because they're already locked in to paying for it. if they could get out of the lease they would and take office space elsewhere

There have been many different contracts already signed that have them locked into moving.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

I'd be hard pressed to think of an argument to make Calgary a more desireable Canadian location than toronto for this rfp

I would agree with you in that Toronto is probably a more desireable location than Calgary for Amazon (if I am understanding you correctly). However one huge advantage Calgary would have is in utility costs. Ontario is a disaster in terms of electricity rates/costs and is only projected to get worse. Alberta would probably win hands down in this regard. But I'm not sure how that would translate into an overall cost advantage when you factor everything in.

I still say any Canadian city would hold a huge advantage over any U.S. city when it comes to health care coverage costs to Amazon. But again not sure if that would make it enough to swing the decision north of the border.

[afc wimbledon]

Couple of points, the RFP is meaningless, it in no way reflects what Amazon is actually looking for other than the fact they want as many cities as possible bidding on it, my guess is the 'shortlist' will be about every city in North America that sends them an email asking for a copy of the RFP.

Tech companies right now seem to be competing to create flagship campuses that reflect their status in the same way companies built tower blocks like the Sears Tower or the Chrysler building, as such I doubt Amazon wants anything pre existing, they will want a massive vacant lot to build a world class eco friendly something or other to one up Google and Apple.

[TheKurgan]

Originally Posted by Muta

You don't think thousands of available / educated workers, relatively cheap real estate, a low commercial tax rate, a hub for transportation distribution routes and a reputation of one of the top cities to live in in the world isn't a competitive advantage?

In 2016 we ranked 17th out of 17 cities in Canada, and that was before the tax changes linked below.

http://calgaryherald.com/business/lo...nds-new-survey

https://www.fraserinstitute.org/stud...-tax-advantage

[Muta]

Originally Posted by TheKurgan

In 2016 we ranked 17th out of 17 cities in Canada, and that was before the tax changes linked below.

http://calgaryherald.com/business/lo...nds-new-survey

https://www.fraserinstitute.org/stud...-tax-advantage

Nice cherrypicking - you use an article using data from the middle of the recession, for which the article directly mentions the downturn as the reason for this skew?

Here's the excerpt from the beginning:


But Calgary still compares favourably to most other cities worldwide, and is likely to rise on the affordability index if the current economic downturn persists.

The study, conducted by accounting firm KPMG, ranked Calgary 17th among 17 Canadian cities for business competitiveness. Calgary’s salary and wage costs — the highest in the country — and the cost of industrial land were driving factors.

However, Rick Whitley, a KPMG partner based in Calgary, said the longer the economic downturn lasts, the more likely it is that labour costs in Alberta will come down.

And that article, despite being a year old, says this right in the title:

Calgary ranks last for business competitiveness in Canada, but still among tops in world

I'm not sure this article helps your argument.

[Ozy_Flame]

Should mention that equivalent tech jobs pay better in the States; although that linked article says Calgarians have high salary costs, it is likely still competitive because not only are the average salaries lower for equivalent positions, they're also in Canadian dollars.

And this is in the context of a company that has a HQ in Seattle, one of the most affluent markets in the US.

[TheKurgan]

Originally Posted by Muta

And that article, despite being a year old, says this right in the title:

Calgary ranks last for business competitiveness in Canada, but still among tops in world

No, I am still comfortable with my position. Since the article was written our economy hasn't improved (Edmonton's has because of increased government spending) and on top of that we jacked our taxes way up. So I still think we would be around the bottom in Canada, which won't help us making it onto any Amazon "Short Lists"

Anyways, hope I am wrong.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by TheKurgan

No, I am still comfortable with my position. Since the article was written our economy hasn't improved (Edmonton's has because of increased government spending) and on top of that we jacked our taxes way up. So I still think we would be around the bottom in Canada, which won't help us making it onto any Amazon "Short Lists"

Anyways, hope I am wrong.

I think you're reading too much into this in the context of a massive tech conglomerate interest.

That same list says Fredericton is the #1 city for competitiveness, do you honestly think that Amazon is looking at Fredericton as an HQ location? There are far more factors at play, including availability of talent, logistics and transportation, business taxes, etc.

Calgary being last is a pithy thought; you'd have to explain why companies remain in Calgary, or why new companies are setting up shop even during a relative downturn (e.g. DeBeers, Rocketspace, etc.)

[Ozy_Flame]

Amazon Weighs Boston in Search for Second Headquarters

To note:

Amazon already has a close association with Boston, having purchased local robot-maker Kiva Systems Inc. for $775 million in 2012. The e-commerce giant plans to add 900 jobs to a new office along Fort Point Channel in the spring, close to new headquarters being built for General Electric Co., which is focusing on the so-called Internet of Things. MIT recently announced a major breakthrough on voice-activated technology that could be of interest to Amazon, which sells the Echo smart speaker.

Another interesting note:

A few years ago, Amazon executives discussed building a second headquarters in Toronto because two decades of rapid growth had left the company feeling constrained in Seattle. But global consumer chief Jeff Wilke objected and said the new location should be in the U.S., the person said. Amazon disputed that Wilke expressed that view.

[Lanny_McDonald]

From that article, the "airport offering convenient flights to Seattle and Washington, D.C."

That one hurts. Calgary offers limited flights a day to D.C., none of which are direct. Most require two stops and are an all day trip. Calgary having to go through hubs for trips almost everywhere makes travel tough.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by New Era

From that article, the "airport offering convenient flights to Seattle and Washington, D.C."

That one hurts. Calgary offers limited flights a day to D.C., none of which are direct. Most require two stops and are an all day trip. Calgary having to go through hubs for trips almost everywhere makes travel tough.

That would also apply to most other cities that do not have airlines with hub operations. Which is a great number of them.

[PsYcNeT]

"Economy"

*drops article by the Fraser Institute*

"Government spending"

*craps self, waddles out of thread*

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

That would also apply to most other cities that do not have airlines with hub operations. Which is a great number of them.

Yes, it would. So that would mean you need to be a hub, or close enough to a hub to take advantage of direct flights. That will trim the viable applicants substantially. So locations with hubs:

Canada:

Toronto (All) Non-stop to Seattle: 2 Non-stop to DC: 9

USA:

Atlanta (Delta) Non-stop to Seattle: 8 Non-stop to DC: 16
Boston (Delta) Non-stop to Seattle: 6 Non-stop to DC: 26
Charlotte (American) Non-stop to Seattle: 2 Non-stop to DC: 9
Chicago (American, Southwest, United) Non-stop to Seattle: 16 Non-stop to DC: 22
Cincinnati (Delta) Non-stop to Seattle: 0 Non-stop to DC: 7
Dallas (American, Southwest) Non-stop to Seattle: 14 Non-stop to DC: 15
Denver (Southwest, United) Non-stop to Seattle: 14 Non-stop to DC: 4
Detroit (Delta) Non-stop to Seattle: 7 Non-stop to DC: 10
Houston (Southwest, United) Non-stop to Seattle: 4 Non-stop to DC: 7
Las Vegas (Southwest) Non-stop to Seattle: 14 Non-stop to DC: 1
Minneapolis (Delta) Non-stop to Seattle: 10 Non-stop to DC: 10
Philadelphia (American) Non-stop to Seattle: 3 Non-stop to DC: 3
Phoenix (American, Southwest) Non-stop to Seattle: 11 Non-stop to DC: 2
Salt Lake (Delta) Non-stop to Seattle: 12 Non-stop to DC: 1
San Francisco (United) Non-stop to Seattle: 41 Non-stop to DC: 3
Washington DC (American, United) Non-stop to Seattle: 8

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by New Era

From that article, the "airport offering convenient flights to Seattle and Washington, D.C."

That one hurts. Calgary offers limited flights a day to D.C., none of which are direct. Most require two stops and are an all day trip. Calgary having to go through hubs for trips almost everywhere makes travel tough.

I think a reasonable response to the RFP would be to pay Westjet or AC to fly direct daily to IAD. I suspect that would only cost $1-2 MM per year, which is a drop in the bucket for how much total spend this RFP needs to have any shot at winning.