Got 100 acres or more to sell? Is it near a bus or MARTA rail line, and within 45 minutes of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport?
If the answers are yes to those questions, the Georgia Department of Economic Development wants to hear from you. The state's top recruiting agency has set up a web page to essentially crowdsource locations to pitch to e-commerce giant Amazon as part of the state's pitch for what the company calls HQ2, a new corporate hub where Amazon says it'll one-day house 50,000 jobs.
Atlanta is competing with just about every other large metropolitan area in North America for the new second headquarters. HQ2 could potentially total more than 8 million square feet of office space, and Amazon has said its new jobs would pay an average of more than $100,000 a year.
"Amazon is performing a competitive site selection process and is considering metro regions in North America for its second corporate headquarters," the web page says. "If you feel like your community or property meets or exceeds the needs of the project described in the RFP (request for proposals), and have a site to submit – please fill out this form and submit to the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) for consideration."
Headquarters recruiting is often a secretive business, and the state economic development team declined to comment on the web page.
But the web page is a novel approach by the state to find a broader pool of potential sites around the metro area that recruiters might not have considered.
The form also asks about fiber internet capabilities, cellular service, whether it's within 2 miles of a major highway and if there's room for expansion on the property or nearby to 8 million square feet of office space. Those requirements are contained in Amazon's RFP.
Amazon triggered what many observers expect to be a bidding war Sept. 7 when it outlined its demands: a metro area of 1 million or more people, a "business-friendly environment" with links to international airports, a high quality of living and transit.
Some have equated the hunt for HQ2 with a bid for an Olympic Games, except here the prize isn’t a few summer weeks of tourists and international attention, but jobs and investment from one of the world’s best-known companies.
Most economic analysts have Atlanta among the potential finalists. The list of likely sites that could house the mammoth campus include downtown Atlanta’s Gulch, the former General Motors plant in Doraville, Fort McPherson south of downtown and even the High Street site near Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody.
The city of Atlanta has other candidates, including several sites along the Beltline and the project backed by development firm Carter in the parking lots north of the former Turner Field.
The state and city could also assemble land on the city’s Westside. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, has plans for substantial redevelopment of its Technology Enterprise Park where Amazon might make a good fit.
Bids are due Oct. 19, and the company will decide by next year.
At a Tuesday event at the new Honeywell North American Software Center and division headquarters in Midtown, leaders touted the state's success in recruiting new and expanding businesses. Amazon was on the minds of many in the room.
Pat Wilson, the state’s chief recruiter and the commissioner of the Department of Economic Development, said Gov. Nathan Deal has made clear Amazon’s project is a big deal.
“We have some amazing assets to sell. That’s what Honeywell bought,” Wilson said. “All of that adds up to a great story, whether you are an Amazon or you’re an automaker or you are a distribution center. All that adds up to a great equation for Georgia.”
Related coverage
MYAJC.COM: REAL JOURNALISM. REAL LOCAL IMPACT.
AJC Business reporter J. Scott Trubey keeps you updated on the latest news about economic development and commercial real estate in metro Atlanta and beyond. You'll find more on myAJC.com, including these stories:
Never miss a minute of what's happening in local business news. Subscribe to myAJC.com.
About the Author
