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Amazon Second HQ

WislaHD said:
Amazon bid the wrong move for Toronto, tech investor says
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...arpet-for-amazon-tech-investor-says-1.4318398
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I'm not sure I buy that line of reasoning. This isn't a "branch plant" that Amazon is setting up. They're investing 5 billion to split their headquarters to two locations. This second location is head-office, not branch-office. Secondly, why would Amazon spend 5-billion as a trojan horse to suck up our talent when there are so many other cheaper ways to do it? It just doesn't make sense.
 
ttk77 said:
I'm not sure I buy that line of reasoning. This isn't a "branch plant" that Amazon is setting up. They're investing 5 billion to split their headquarters to two locations. This second location is head-office, not branch-office. Secondly, why would Amazon spend 5-billion as a trojan horse to suck up our talent when there are so many other cheaper ways to do it? It just doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...

Exactly - as mentioned earlier, US tech firms already suck up our talent direct through university recruitment, mobile workforce and start-up takeovers. None of which will be prevented by the absence of Amazon HQ2 in Toronto. If the intent is to move our talent to the US, all they need to do is offer higher wages and better opportunities - which they do.

AoD
 
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I agree. His argument may make sense against the local operations of Google, Amazon (as it currently exists), etc. but does not make sense as against what Amazon is proposing. Either he misunderstood or has not read the Amazon RFP or he is simply content with making an argument based on a false premise.
 
Zucktown, USA
Facebook, Amazon, and Google are reviving the ill-fated “company towns” of the Gilded Age

https://thebaffler.com/latest/zucktown-usa-tveten

If Facebook and Google have begun to revive the company town, Amazon has already given it a futuristic luster. California’s inchoate company towns pale in comparison to their northern counterpart, which occupies 19 percent of Seattle’s office space and a farcical 8.1 million square feet.
...
Certainly, the megalomaniacs who aim to populate municipal fixtures with registered-trademark logos will expect cities to genuflect at every turn. Bezos has exemplified this in Seattle, whose recent measure to “tax the rich” drove him to seek another location in which to build Amazon’s second headquarters. While residents of its hometown grapple with a commandeering leech that "sucks up our resources and refuses to participate in daily upkeep," Amazon will soon attempt to prime another city to be sapped.
Click to expand...
 
There's a couple of things that irk me about this whole Amazon HQ2 competition.

1. Amazon is making a big deal out of this and seeking the media competition in order to get cities to bribe them with incentives. They most likely already have a couple of cities chosen already and are hoping that all the attention that this is getting will get those cities to offer up more (or at least make it easier politically for those governments to offer up more)
2. They call it HQ2 but in reality the only HQ is where Bezos is. This new office may not be a branch office but there's a hierarchy to all companies and this new office will never be on the same level as where Seattle is (unless Bezos is moving).
 
bcx said:
There's a couple of things that irk me about this whole Amazon HQ2 competition.

1. Amazon is making a big deal out of this and seeking the media competition in order to get cities to bribe them with incentives. They most likely already have a couple of cities chosen already and are hoping that all the attention that this is getting will get those cities to offer up more (or at least make it easier politically for those governments to offer up more)
2. They call it HQ2 but in reality the only HQ is where Bezos is. This new office may not be a branch office but there's a hierarchy to all companies and this new office will never be on the same level as where Seattle is (unless Bezos is moving).
Click to expand...

Welcome to the real world. Amazon is a private company which tries to make money for its shareholders as its primary reason for existing. Creating a buzz about a 'second HQ" and trying to extract concessions from Cities is part of achieving Aim #1. Many companies have what amount to 'two HQs" and you are right that one is always 'more important' than the other. Sometimes in 'power', sometimes in 'body-count', sometimes in both.
 
Irishmonk said:
Toronto might make for a better International HQ than Seattle since it could recruit talent from every country in the world.
Click to expand...

I think Toronto would be a great choice for Amazon's second most important office too and if they are really looking for all those things they've outlined I don't think there's many other options for them in North America... thus our governments shouldn't play into Amazon's game and offer them too much in incentives.
 
A possible location for HQ2 is Yonge and Eglinton.


The former TTC bus bays at the southwest corner of Yonge and Eglinton can be given or sold below market value to Amazon. The land including the Canada Square 1987 building at 2190 Yonge Street (which should be demolished for a mid-block connection) is about 330,000 square feet. With 12 times coverage a 4 million square foot building could be built there.

It is on a transit crossroads and is in the centre of the city.


The TTC subway ROW from Canada Square to The Davisville Yards, south of Chaplin Crescent can be covered, a walkway, a bicycle path (which would connect with the Beltline Trail) and parkland can be built over it. It is about 60’ wide with a 45˚ embankment. The east side of the embankment is about 20” wide can be used as a north/south Midtown PATH. All development on the west side of Yonge Street can be connected to this PATH at the basement level. If a developer tries to charge Amazon rent above market value, Amazon can bypass the site and still be connected to Canada Square/former TTC property by the north south PATH.



This PATH/greenway would also connect to the TTC Davisville Yards, which is a prime site for redevelopment. Amazon could be offered an option on portion of the yards. This would be Amazon’s ace card in the future, when they are looking to expand and developers try to charge a premium, knowing that Amazon has no other options.


At the southeast corner of Yonge and Eglinton, Davpart wants to build a 60+ story condo. A 60 story office building with Amazon as a tenant would probably be more profitable.


Amazon has stated that HQ2 could be similar to their Seattle Campus. This location would be similar and with a Midtown PATH, all their buildings would be connected.

Eglinton-Davisville.png
 

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