Amazon HQ2 selected - and not Boston

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Re: Suffolk Downs Redevelopment

Amazon in its solicitation never committed to having 50,000 employees in HQ2. The minimum amount of square feet sought by Amazon for phases I-III was 3.5 million, which really isn't all that much. Crystal City has a commercial vacancy rate that already gets one more than half-way to 3.5 million sf. Phase IV was so far off in the future that Amazon doesn't itself know what its organizational configuration might be at that future time.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/Anything/test/images/usa/RFP_3._V516043504_.pdf

And this Amazon caveat at the end of the RFP
This RFP is only an invitation for proposals, the substance of which may be memorialized in a binding, definitive agreement or agreements if any proposal is selected. Amazon may select one or more proposals and negotiate with the parties submitting such proposals before making an award decision, or it may select no proposals and enter into no agreement.
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Suffolk 83 said:
Amazon was always looking to extort someone and at the end of the day it probably was these 2 cities from day one and they used everyone else as leverage.
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This (and everyone else's reasoning) sounds very plausible.

On infrastructure woes; the State House's inability to use revenue effectively certainly isn't helping.

stick n move said:
We barely have the room to even fit everybody that wants to come, so no concessions.
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We have a bit of room yet.... We need more creative thinking to get vertical planning (where it needs to go) permitted faster, and projects up. The process is woefully slow.
 
Although a bit stunned on LIC being selected, it is very close to Grand Central, believe it or not, as well as Penn Station. It is also a short hop from Midtown. So, a ton of people can get there fairly easily, there is a lot of buildings going up and even with all that, there is a lot of under-developed land over there with lots of parking lots, auto body shops, etc.
 
Re: Suffolk Downs Redevelopment

bigpicture7 said:
Jumbo, I think your analysis is spot on. But it doesn't change the fact that it profoundly saddens me (and not in a way that has to do with Boston "losing out" whatsoever).

Why does it have to be Amazon trying to get the better of the cities? Why can't it be a mutually beneficial partnership? Why can't there be such a thing as great corporate-community relations, responsibility, and stewardship?

I agree with your analysis, but I won't be cheering Amazon on.
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I think we are starting to see wealthier, tech oriented cities (and the corporations obviously) following the same path that manufacturing did in the 80s and 90s. Car companies, shoe manufacture, etc., all moved South to states willing to give every tax incentive possible. It was never good for the destination states. I said then, and I'll say now, I want my state to be competitive based on fundamentals, not on race to the bottom tax cuts and deregulation. Massachusetts has the people and institutions to be a strong option for all manner of tech and research companies. We should not prostitute ourselves just to land the big fish.
 
That's great news. Boston has plenty of jobs we need better infrastructure and housing ideas to relieve traffic and create affordable housing for the working class families.
 
awood91 said:
I agree it is good news that Boston did not end up being selected. The Boston metro has created over 150,000 jobs since January 2017. The housing market here would be under incredible strain if Amazon had decided on Boston.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-employment-since-president-trump-took-office
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To add, the workers in these warehouses are treated and worked like galley slaves. The supervision is relentless and even though we were selected, it does freak me out that these cities have given a wink and a nod to Beezos and his workplace ethics - or lack thereof.
 
I have to wonder what Amazon's position on non-competes in MA would have been. I have to admit that I'm disappointed that we didn't get it. It's probably a bit selfish of me (as a tech employee), but I was hoping Amazon would have made the tech employee market more competitive here.

Boston plays second fiddle to SF, it seems like they always get the best of everything (unless you're working in biotech, then it seems Boston is the best).
 
tjrileymass said:
I have to wonder what Amazon's position on non-competes in MA would have been. I have to admit that I'm disappointed that we didn't get it. It's probably a bit selfish of me (as a tech employee), but I was hoping Amazon would have made the tech employee market more competitive here.

Boston plays second fiddle to SF, it seems like they always get the best of everything (unless you're working in biotech, then it seems Boston is the best).
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As a tech worker, I also was hoping Amazon would drive up our salaries. I do think there is some upside to this split scenario though. The Bay Area is clearly so saturated that it is turning dysfunctional. The next-tier tech concentrations are arguably (in no particular order) Seattle, Boston, DC metro, NY, LA, and Austin. By Amazon being the anchor of one of those and bolstering 2 more significantly it might help encourage diversification away from the Bay Area. I would hope that NY and DC don't pull away from the pack, but rather that this move will further legitimize that whole next-tier as Bay Area alternatives.

Maybe I'm just looking for a silver lining. I can say I've always had mixed feelings about winning. The impact on me personally would probably be good, but there could be some downside if Boston became less economically diversified and thus less economically stable following a big tech influx. I think our stability is one of our greatest assets - we aren't a company town nor an industry town. We do everything from meds to eds, to finance, bio tech, software, big-iron defense, insurance, and more
 
^^^^^
A lot of the companies FB, MSFT, EMC----The best of the best have started In Boston---They just decided to located the companies out west
 
tjrileymass said:
I have to wonder what Amazon's position on non-competes in MA would have been. I have to admit that I'm disappointed that we didn't get it. It's probably a bit selfish of me (as a tech employee), but I was hoping Amazon would have made the tech employee market more competitive here.

Boston plays second fiddle to SF, it seems like they always get the best of everything (unless you're working in biotech, then it seems Boston is the best).
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This is how I feel too. The only thing I thought would be bad about Amazon being here is that they might have pushed to roll-back Massachussets' nascent efforts to remove non-competes.

There was a received wisdom that the reason we kept the non-competes over all these years was that, despite silicon valley's success with an ecosystem of competition, our big players who mattered relatively more to us (I'm thinking EMC^2 in particular) lobbied hard to keep things the way they were.

Not sure if this was true or not, but having one big tech company in here with THAT much power might have made it difficult to keep on going with this.
 
reverend_paco said:
This is how I feel too. The only thing I thought would be bad about Amazon being here is that they might have pushed to roll-back Massachussets' nascent efforts to remove non-competes.

There was a received wisdom that the reason we kept the non-competes over all these years was that, despite silicon valley's success with an ecosystem of competition, our big players who mattered relatively more to us (I'm thinking EMC^2 in particular) lobbied hard to keep things the way they were.

Not sure if this was true or not, but having one big tech company in here with THAT much power might have made it difficult to keep on going with this.
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You do know that a new non-compete law went into effect Oct 1 in Mass? Any agreement signed after then will require payment for the non-compete.
 
Re: Suffolk Downs Redevelopment

Suffolk 83 said:
Amazon was always looking to extort someone and at the end of the day it probably was these 2 cities from day one and they used everyone else as leverage.
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Exactly.


kingofsheeba said:
To add, the workers in these warehouses are treated and worked like galley slaves. The supervision is relentless and even though we were selected, it does freak me out that these cities have given a wink and a nod to Beezos and his workplace ethics - or lack thereof.
Click to expand...

Bezos has more money than some countries yet he cant pay them more, gives them only a 30 min lunch break between slave shifts and it takes 10 monutes to walk across the factory...also the employees have to wear friggin trackers. All they need is some whips and leg shackles. Amazon also uses our tax money to save money shipping their trash with usps because usps does not need to make a profit its federally funded.
 
The thread title suggests an official announcement was made - was there?
 
Re: Suffolk Downs Redevelopment

stick n move said:
Exactly.




Bezos has more money than some countries yet he cant pay them more, gives them only a 30 min lunch break between slave shifts and it takes 10 monutes to walk across the factory...also the employees have to wear friggin trackers. All they need is some whips and leg shackles. Amazon also uses our tax money to save money shipping their trash with usps because usps does not need to make a profit its federally funded.
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Not to mention they have royally fucked up Whole Foods. While it was expensive, it was quality. Quality is shot.
 
TheRifleman said:
^^^^^
A lot of the companies FB, MSFT, EMC----The best of the best have started In Boston---They just decided to located the companies out west
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EMC has always had their corporate HQ and largest employment numbers in Massachusetts.
 
Re: Suffolk Downs Redevelopment

stick n move said:
Exactly.




Bezos has more money than some countries yet he cant pay them more, gives them only a 30 min lunch break between slave shifts and it takes 10 monutes to walk across the factory...also the employees have to wear friggin trackers. All they need is some whips and leg shackles. Amazon also uses our tax money to save money shipping their trash with usps because usps does not need to make a profit its federally funded.
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All of this...
 
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