By Yuuki Nishida, news correspondent
Boston submitted its bid for Amazon’s new second headquarters detailed in a 218-page proposal Oct. 19, offering Suffolk Downs as a potential location.
The bid is in response to Amazon’s request for a new campus to complement its main headquarters in Seattle.
“Amazon expects to invest over $5 billion in construction and grow this second headquarters to include as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs,” a Sept. 7 press release rom the company stated. “In addition to Amazon’s direct hiring and investment, construction and ongoing operation of Amazon HQ2 is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the surrounding community.”
The proposal begins by addressing Boston’s world-class universities and education system, skilled workforce and diverse community. It details Boston’s history of innovation and its forefront in the digital industry, software, robotics, cyber security and green technology as assets to the headquarters.
“No other city can match the combinations of head and heart, pride and openness, creativity and stability that run through our culture and drive our success,” Mayor Martin J. Walsh said in the proposal. bipartisan, cross-sector teamwork among leaders who are committed to growing our economy by these values.”
Amazon’s new home requires a city with a population of at least 1 million people, an international airport and a stable and business-friendly environment. More than 50 cities have submitted their bids to Amazon, including Chicago, Toronto, San Diego, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
The proposal is laid out with data about Boston’s workforce and schools and its representation as a global community, boasting that 55 percent of Bostonians are non-white, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The proposal includes supportive letters from Boston-based companies including General Electric and Reebok and local universities, including Northeastern University.
“Northeastern University today is the only university with campuses in both Boston and Seattle, helping to produce a pipeline of talent for firms like Amazon,” said Northeastern President Joseph E. Aoun in a Sept. 26 letter to Amazon as part of the proposal. “With ready access to talent, venture capital and guided by a singular entrepreneurial ethos, Boston is poised to further help Amazon shape the digital economy of the future.”
There are worries that the arrival of Amazon to Boston could lead to an increase in housing prices for a city that’s already experiencing price surges for many of its residents. In a telephone survey by the MassINC Polling group, 23 percent of the 405 likely voters surveyed said that housing costs is the single biggest issue facing the city of Boston.
More than 500 Northeastern students have completed full-time six-month internships at Amazon during the last five years with the co-op program. The potential of the second headquarters in Boston could open up more opportunities for experiential learning.
“Currently not too informed on the Amazon bid, but I am aware of the exciting possibility of future Amazon-sponsored co-ops,” Enrique Linan, a freshman business management major, said. “I hope Northeastern can secure that opportunity.”
Walsh addressed this concern with his 2014 Housing a Changing City Plan, setting a goal to add 53,000 new units of housing by 2030. According to the bid, 80 percent of the projected number of housing units have been built or planned, with more projects coming in the future.
“We are excited to present the best of Boston to Amazon, with support from leaders in the educational, business and philanthropic communities and our neighbors in Revere, as the company considers locations for their second corporate headquarters in North America,” Walsh said in the proposal. “Boston is a thriving city and we invite Amazon to grow with us.”
Amazon is expected to narrow down its applications to a short list and make a decision for their second headquarters next year.
