There’s a fevered competition among American cities vying for Amazon’s highly vaunted second headquarters, to be located in the eastern United States. (Hint: It’s almost certain to be in the Washington D.C. area because CEO Jeff Bezos has purchased the largest home in DC and is expanding it.)
Mayors and developers are eager to win the Amazon prize but economic developers say their goal is to come in second. The reason is that whichever city wins the Amazon prize will find it difficult and expensive to meet all of Amazon’s demands. There also are going to be problems in creating the infrastructure to handle as many as 50,000 new employees and their families.
But if a city comes in second, it will be in a catbird seat to win other relocations or expansions from major corporations. No company will want to follow in Amazon’s giant footsteps because whatever city Amazon picks will suddenly become more expensive and more crowded. “The reality is that coming in second, from an economic development perspective, is actually better than coming in first,” one of my sources says. “That city will have established that it is a great destination.”
By the way, the Washington D.C. area has three separate bids for Amazon’s new HQ. Northern Virginia, which is choking on traffic, is one. The District of Columbia itself is also highly expensive and congested, as is the third candidate, suburban Maryland.
One of the reasons economic developers are certain Amazon is headed for the area, aside from the fact that Bezos is refurbishing his mansion, is that Bezos now owns the Washington Post. And every smart tech person recognizes that the major tech platforms like Amazon are headed for a day of reckoning in Washington in terms of national policy issues relating to privacy, security and competition. Being a long-term thinker, Bezos knows he has to take Washington very seriously.
