Amazon HQ2 RFP

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stick n move said:
Apparently this is a render for the Amazon HQ2 in Volpe in Cambridge. Never seen this before, pretty interesting. I thought everything was already approved in Volpe but this is recent. Hopefully they plan to build this regardless of Amazon moving in, but I have no idea. Pretty cool either way and it would be great to see Cambridge go vertical.

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Yeah sorry to disappoint, but this is a photoshop I did months ago.
 
My bad I was looking for something else and saw this on reddit. Whoever posted it they told him there was already another thread and nothing else was really made of it. He didnt cite a source and I couldnt find one but he didnt say it was fake and nobody called him out so I figured it was from some far flung pdf off somewhere on the internet that I didnt know where to find as theres tons of information all over the place about Amazon relocating. It looked professionally done, thats a pretty good photoshop and you fooled me. My mistake.
 
Weird, I made it to highlight what a taller, statement tower would look like on the Volpe site. The perspective and blending just happened to work out pretty well for the 'shop, so I guess I should be proud that you thought it was real. No idea that it was getting spread around outside of AB though.
 
Lol yea it looked pretty good. It was just on reddit so an AB'er must have threw it up there. Anyways it happens. It would look good, but we already know what were getting thats why I was asking what was up with that render because it doesn't fit anywhere in the new site plan.


MIT-Volpe-Petition-4.jpg


Anyways thats settled... #fakenews
 
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"TRANSIT & AMAZON’S “HQ2”
Amazon announced intentions to build a second North American headquarters, along with an imperative the winner have ample transit options for an expected 50,000 workers."

Looks like the Seaport is out.
 
TheRifleman said:
"TRANSIT & AMAZON’S “HQ2”
Amazon announced intentions to build a second North American headquarters, along with an imperative the winner have ample transit options for an expected 50,000 workers."

Looks like the Seaport is out.
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Based on 50,000 it should be downtown Boston and served by multiple different T/commuter rail lines and not just trying to add all 50,000 people to the middle of the Blue line.

North Station, South Station, One Congress and places in between with access to multiple stations within a few blocks.
 
For one thing, HQ2 will never have 50,000 employees, not even 20 years from now. The Seattle office still doesn't have 50,000. I don't know how many it will ultimately be, but 50,000 was a teaser number that existed only to stimulate proposals.

For another thing, nowhere near 100% of HQ2 employees will ride the T. Many will walk from new and existing residential nearby and some will drive (from near and far).

I would be surprised if HQ2 added more than 10,000 people to trains and 5,000 to buses 20 years from now. For downtown, spread over multiple lines, that would be in the noise. For Suffolk Downs or other non-downtown location, that is a modest load for a single station and light for 2 stations. Especially easy for the 2 SD stations that already barely have any ridership.

Actually, Suffolk Downs is the least used station among the 3 heavy rail lines with only 500 boardings per day.
 
How many of the current proposals are on parcels linked to an existing transit line already though? From an earlier discussion Philly isn't (Navy yard) and neither is Baltimore (promise to build a rail stop I think at Under Armour place). Atlanta can't possibly be as MARTA doesn't really go anywhere. Not sure if Denver has a transit system or Austin for that matter. I have to think the NYC proposal does, and possibly the DC proposal...
 
When you say Boston, you are referring to Suffolk Downs? If you think that has public transit capacity think again. The Blue Line is not going to get it done.
 
Are we even reacting to a real news story or qualification? As usual, Rifle provided no context or citation.
 
No i don't think Suffolk Downs would ever be the winning site. I'm hoping Bezos asks for a counterproposal involving the more sentient plan involving the Downtown/ off Downtown formula which can be accommodated by the improvements/ tweaking of transit already proposed...
 
I know it is pontificating at best, but Cambridge has room at Volpe and some space in the Northpoint area. Boston still has some room in the Seaport (but unlikely with transportation needs).

With 2 great sites nestled next to or near MIT / tech area, down the road from Harvard in an area with a proven track record for innovation, lots of public transportation, near an airport, and far enough from Seattle / close to Europe (relatively) for this investment to make sense - I don't see how there are many other realistic options.

I have lived all over the US and places like Chicago or Atlanta just don't add up to me. I get the Austin TX possibility, but only a small part of Austin is hip and happening. A lot of Austin looks like Texas - massive highways, sprawl, not much public transportation.
 
falcon42 said:
When you say Boston, you are referring to Suffolk Downs? If you think that has public transit capacity think again. The Blue Line is not going to get it done.
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No, Amazon is moving either into Boston or Somerville in my opinion.
Suffolk downs---expect more condos at Suffolk downs.

#1 Assembly Square
#2 Winthrop Garage
#3 Dallas
#4 Suffolk Downs
 
falcon42 said:
When you say Boston, you are referring to Suffolk Downs? If you think that has public transit capacity think again. The Blue Line is not going to get it done.
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Better than most other cities bidding (especially with the state through in the Red/Blue connector). Its also 50k jobs over 20 years - enough time to scale things up. That said, I am not a fan of Suffolk downs for Amazon.

TheRifleman said:
No, Amazon is moving either into Boston or Somerville in my opinion.
Suffolk downs---expect more condos at Suffolk downs.

#1 Assembly Square
#2 Winthrop Garage
#3 Dallas
#4 Suffolk Downs
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Dallas, along with any Texan city isn't going to happen. The Winthrop Garage makes no sense, as there isn't enough space there even for phase one. Same with Assembly Square (which has even worse transit than Suffolk Downs). If we want Amazon it should be South Station Tower + Expansion which they can then build out down Dot Ave to Broadway and Andrew with the new zoning there. Throw Widett in as a bonus.
 
If Boston really wanted Amazon they'd have pitched a combination of City Hall, Congress Street Garage and Haymarket Garage.
 
Rover said:
How many of the current proposals are on parcels linked to an existing transit line already though? From an earlier discussion Philly isn't (Navy yard) and neither is Baltimore (promise to build a rail stop I think at Under Armour place). Atlanta can't possibly be as MARTA doesn't really go anywhere. Not sure if Denver has a transit system or Austin for that matter. I have to think the NYC proposal does, and possibly the DC proposal...
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Philly has the Schuylkill Yards development decking over the yards of the 30th Street station-direct connections to Amtrak and Septa. It's a very strong proposal. Tbh, it's happening whether or not amazon selects Philly for HQ2.
 
Is there any time table for finalists or more information? Does Amazon expect developers to just sit still for 6+ months? Eventually some will have to move on as idle land is eating into returns
 
Looks like the Seaport is out.
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I'm shocked by how many people think that the seaport is this isolated community that you can only access via car. Legit - take a walk over the channel. You'd be surprised how close it is to downtown, south station, and much more. Just because there isn't a T stop on every other corner doesn't mean that there isn't access to public transportation.
 
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