So what if CMU is at Pittsburgh ? It’s not Amazon is gonna make any decisions based on this fact. Logistics, Real Estate and whatnot play a more important role than CMU being near. Most CMU CS graduates were already traveling to NYC and Silicon Valley after they’d graduated anyway so that’s not a valid point.
Also amazon is not comparable to other technology companies in the sense that it needs more non technology related roles in its office than the other big names. I personally favor D.C though
FWIW, several hedge funds that have their HFT/quant research arm located in Toronto for the reasons MLA states. Waterloo is legit. However, every city in consideration has schools and talent pool on par so it is kind of a moot point I believe.
Based on what I know, I disagree. AMZN’s Seattle HQ is 8.1m square feet. Schuylkill Yards has 6.9m of further development and room to expand depending on what Amtrak does with the 30th Street Station District Plan. From this location, the airport is 15 minutes by Uber and NYC is 1.25 hours by Amtrak leaving every half hour. Seems that would be as compelling as the Navy Yard. Not saying Navy Yard is not an option, but I don’t believe it is the only option.
Edit: I also just looked at the actual RFP, link below. It states access to mass transit onsite as a “Core Preference” as important as being within 45 minutes of an airport. That really narrows things down.
Valid point, its possible Amazon would just buy their own plane as well if that were the case. I read they bought/leased a few to help with their logistics and reduce shipping costs
They’re looking for 100 acres. Although they don’t have to be contiguous, they “should be in proximity to each other to foster a sense of place and be pedestrian-friendly”. The Navy Yard is the only Philly location that offers that kind of acreage. Extend the Broad Street line to it, and it hits everything on their list. Philly is considered to be anti-business though, so I don’t know that Amazon will get the kind of incentives other cities will be willing to throw its way.
^That is not true. Here are the categories they are considering per the RFP (bottom of page 3). They are open to existing buildings, greenfield or infill/renovation. Greenfield is by no means a requirement.
Priority for Consideration (in no particular order):
Amazon will consider the following site/building categories for the Project:
1. Existing buildings of at least 500,000+ sq. ft., meeting the core requirements described above and that are expandable or have additional options for developmentnearby.
2. A greenfield site of approximately 100 acres certified or pad ready, with utility infrastructure in place. The sites do not have to be contiguous, but should be in proximity to each other to foster a sense of place and be pedestrian-friendly.
3. Other infill, existing buildings, including opportunities for renovation/redevelopment and greenfield sites, meeting the proximity and logistics requirements of the Project. This can also be a combination of the above.
If one of their preferred options is a 100 acre greenfield site, do you honestly think they’re in the market for 15-20 acre sites with existing buildings? Maybe you could combine Schuylkill Yards and 30th Street Station, but then you’re bringing a lot of parties to the table. Schuylkill Yards already has Drexel and Bradywine as partners, so you’d be adding Amtrak to the mix (and presumably the Feds since that’s where Amtrak gets it’s money), PennDot, and SEPTA. That screams clusterf u ck to me and I suspect Amazon will think the same.
BTW, I’d love to be wrong, but I just don’t see Amazon coming to Philly.
That is literally option #1 in the RFP. I’m pretty sure Drexel could be persuaded to build out some space for AMZN to have the #1 tech employer in the area next door. Like I said, they are building out an additional ~6m square feet and AMZN is only requiring 500k sqare feet day one. Not saying that is for sure, I’m just saying ignoring options #1 and #3 and arbitrarily assuming #2 doesn’t make much sense to me.
I’m not optimistic on the Philly location either, just spitballing.
My money is on Columbus or Cincinnati, OH. Both are among the fastest growing tech markets in the country. Large FedEx distribution center in Indianapolis and UPS center in Louisville (Cincinnati is within 2 hours of both). Amazon is already building a major airport hub in Northern Kentucky. Low cost of living, many great universities within the state and within a 3 hour drive from either city.
Existing buildings have to be expandable. AMZN only wants 500k day one, but they’ll eventually want all 6MM that Schuylkill Yards has to offer and more. Too many complications in getting the “and more”.
McGill > UW, maybe in business though I don’t even think that’s true anymore. In any technical degree UW wins hands down.
UW graduates do quite well in silicon valley - the reasons are as MLA stated, Canada’s tech scene is not leading edge (we have one or two stars but nowhere near the depth of US), and they get paid double in USD to do the same work at the forefront of tech. Easy choice. Next time you talk to someone in tech engineering, ask how many Canadians are at the company. The number will surprise you.
Toronto doesn’t make sense for a lot of reasons. TO (and even less so KW) doesn’t have the talent pool to fill and keep staffed 50k jobs of HQ quality, and even say they did, it would be a pretty risky gamble on their part to HQ in a non-core market, changing the culture, being in a foreign country, tax and legal structure changes, and accessing a shallow talent pool. As much as I think it’d be great to have such an employer in the city there are so many obstacles to overcome that it’s basically a non-starter for a HQ discussion.
Ok. I get that “UW” is a reputable school. I just don’t think it’s going to be a draw for Amazon to relocate to Canada. There are many US schools that are just as good and even better - the pool is deep. Outside of Stanford or MIT, there are still Berkeley, University of Michigan, UVA, and others - all of which are equal to or better than any engineering school outside the US. Why relocate to Canada and force workers to move up there, when Michigan or Berkeley to anywhere in the US is much more practical?
Also, if the best achievement people can cite for UW graduates is that they get to work for real American companies in the US, that might indicate that the marketability of such graduates lies in basic competence and numbers, rather than ability to drive and create business.
remember guys, Amazon itself stated they are looking for a new NORTH American headquarters. they made that distinction. why make that distinction and field pitches from five to ten major Canadian cities if Canada was already a write-off? if Amazon wanted to make this a patriotic thing they would’ve stressed the opening of a new US headquarters.
Canada wasn’t a write-off for Waste Connections, Burger King, Civeo, Energy Fuels and Valeant, all of which moved their HQ to Canada strictly for tax reasons. pay less in corporate taxes, pay less in wages than most large US cities, why not?
if you can check off the talent box while you’re at it, i don’t know what deliberation is necessary. Canada doesn’t just generate excess tech workers, it generates excess MBAs and other specialties as well. the fact that Toronto is the CFA capital of the world and not New York or London is representative of Canadians’ underemployment. employ us to your benefit!