Amazon

[BKDotCom]

Someone needs to tell OKC the 70s are over. That looks like a pedestrian nightmare.

Is T-town doing much better?

[Hoss]

Is T-town doing much better?

Someone's salty...

[SXSW]

OKC's new convention center, Omni conference hotel and south & west of those projects the construction of the downtown Scissortail Park (below); Oklahoma City Boulevard separates the park and the Chesapeake Energy Arena.  All pics via OKCTalk Forum.

How about we keep the OKC stuff in one thread, the above is not relevant here. 

[TheArtist]

Is T-town doing much better?

Believe it or not, I am actually pleasantly surprised at most of the recent downtown/mid-town development and how pedestrian friendly it is.  Most of the new development has been right up to the sidewalk with a good amount of open "fenestration".  Pedestrian lively,,, now that's a different matter. Still lacking a classic, lively, retail main street type area.  Too many areas which have the "built potential" are allowing offices, living, banks, architects, etc. on the ground floor which creates dead zones and gaps hurting retail.

It's interesting. When people are at a mall and begin to see offices go in, architects, law firms, services, blank walls between stores, etc. the rumor begins that it's dying.  Its losing its appeal as a shopping destination as there are fewer and fewer shops.  Put those things in a potential retail corridor downtown and nobody bats an eye.  

[patric]

Amazon builds fulfillment centers where orders need fulfilled.  HQ2 RFCs have nothing to do with it.

Amazon is reportedly splitting HQ2 into 2 cities, which would prove the whole contest was a massive sham
https://www.thisisinsider.com/amazon-splitting-hq2-reveals-contest-was-a-sham-2018-11

[swake]

Amazon is reportedly splitting HQ2 into 2 cities, which would prove the whole contest was a massive sham
https://www.thisisinsider.com/amazon-splitting-hq2-reveals-contest-was-a-sham-2018-11

Why get all that free money from just one city when you can double the fun and get it from two?

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

Why get all that free money from just one city when you can double the fun and get it from two?

Pulling the ol "Bait N Switch" on 'em!

Taxpayers should be angry and should demand no more than half the initial offer. If Amazon wants HQ2 & HQ3 which are half as big as initially stated, they should reopen the bidding because no way would the $7 billion offered by NJ be worth half the jobs. I'm sure Arlington and NY both offered billions as well. Maybe it comes down to real estate and tax discounts which could be worth far more in NYC.

I hope NYC gets it because then other companies there will demand equal incentives or threaten to leave. That's one of the few places which can afford those kinds of implications. It has some inherent disadvantages like a cost of living and a tough/different enough lifestyle overall, it severely limits who will actually move there.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Amazon is reportedly splitting HQ2 into 2 cities, which would prove the whole contest was a massive sham
https://www.thisisinsider.com/amazon-splitting-hq2-reveals-contest-was-a-sham-2018-11

I think that if the cities didn't think about this and put some kind of proportioning mechanism into the proposals, they should be ashamed of themselves and it will serve them right to pay double.  Who would not have that kind of performance clause in a contract these days??

[Laramie]

Amazon builds fulfillment centers where orders need fulfilled.  HQ2 RFCs have nothing to do with it.

You are correct!   Didn't realize the game Amazon played.  

Did more than 238 cities/states get hoodwinked by Amazon?.  The costs associated with the applications individual cities states submitted was a gamble.   The money could have been used for badly needed city/state services.   Swake, they more than doubled the fun.

[Hoss]

You are correct!   Didn't realize the game Amazon played.  

Did more than 238 cities/states get hoodwinked by Amazon?.  The costs associated with the applications individual cities states submitted was a gamble.   The money could have been used for badly needed city/state services.   Swake, they more than doubled the fun.

Plus, these municipalities likely handed over (for no cost mind you) city and state level demographic data that Amazon probably had their eye on.  Look I shop as much as the next guy online nowadays, but there comes a point when a company is getting too big for its britches.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

Plus, these municipalities likely handed over (for no cost mind you) city and state level demographic data that Amazon probably had their eye on.  Look I shop as much as the next guy online nowadays, but there comes a point when a company is getting too big for its britches.

I hadn't thought about that. Also, they all handed over their "best offer" to  bring something to them. If Amazon needs an HQ3 or HQ4 or "Whole Foods HQ" or a new Cloud Data Center... they'll know where to get the best offers.

There's all kinds of stuff they can do with that information ranging from smart to Machiavellian. I can see them expanding and building Google-esque data centers all over to support their massive cloud services. (https://www.geekwire.com/2018/state-cloud-amazon-web-services-bigger-four-major-competitors-combined/) Currently the US locations are all on the west coast (especially Silicon Valley) and Near DC. That's a huge and hugely profitable part of their company.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

You are correct!   Didn't realize the game Amazon played.  

Did more than 238 cities/states get hoodwinked by Amazon?.  The costs associated with the applications individual cities states submitted was a gamble.   The money could have been used for badly needed city/state services.   Swake, they more than doubled the fun.

San Antonio also chose to opt out. "It's not that we wouldn't love to have Amazon select San Antonio," Mayor Roy Nirenberg wrote in an open letter to Bezos. "Any city would."

But, he added, "it's hard to imagine that a forward-thinking company like Amazon hasn't already selected its preferred location."

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/trending/rejected-cactuses-street-graffiti-and-thousands-of-sandwiches-the-tactics/article_1fc325a0-4371-54d9-94a6-1ec7661b1c72.html#tncms-source=block-contextual-fallback

Sounds like the mayor of SA was right. Amazon had its preferred location already and probably just stuck with those 2 pre-selected places.

A lot of people made fun of Bynum for that. Which is better to get lulled in to a sort of scam like every other major city in North America or to save all that time (and shame) like Little Rock did and not even try? Is it "forward thinking" to submit a proposal along with hundreds of other cities that is almost certainly going nowhere or is that delusional?

Maybe we could start by being bold enough to retain medium players like Hilti. https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/hilti-moving-north-american-headquarters-from-tulsa-to-dallas-area/article_28b2ae91-98ae-5a64-9021-0cc6ae3eb46d.html

[Rattle Trap]

A lot of people made fun of Bynum for that. Which is better to get lulled in to a sort of scam like every other major city in North America or to save all that time (and shame) like Little Rock did and not even try? Is it "forward thinking" to submit a proposal along with hundreds of other cities that is almost certainly going nowhere or is that delusional?

Everyone knew there was next to no chance Amazon would seriously consider Tulsa, but that's not to say that the effort won't pay off in the future. Bynum claimed if nothing else the team working on it learned a lot and gained experience for future proposals. There's speculation that the fulfillment center being built is a result of Tulsa's pitch for the HQ2. Additionally, Bynum went on national TV and was interviewed about it. This sort of attention could help put Tulsa on the map for companies or entrepreneurs that forgot Tulsa existed.

Regardless of how you see it, I wouldn't say it was a waste of time.

[Laramie]

Again, let's hope it wasn't a total waste; lots of confusion has been interjected of late.  There is a concern that other Fortune 500 corporations will follow Amazon's bid process for a second HQ.  

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

Everyone knew there was next to no chance Amazon would seriously consider Tulsa, but that's not to say that the effort won't pay off in the future. Bynum claimed if nothing else the team working on it learned a lot and gained experience for future proposals. There's speculation that the fulfillment center being built is a result of Tulsa's pitch for the HQ2. Additionally, Bynum went on national TV and was interviewed about it. This sort of attention could help put Tulsa on the map for companies or entrepreneurs that forgot Tulsa existed.

Regardless of how you see it, I wouldn't say it was a waste of time.

Bynum stated that, but I don't think there's any actual evidence Amazon put a fulfillment center in Tulsa/OKC because of these proposals. They have those in just about every major metro and needed them added to better fulfill orders in these two metros.

His TV appearance was more about ridiculing why he thinks Amazon would ever consider little ol Tulsa for HQ2 and it wasn't his finest hour and didn't well communicate anything to make Tulsa look good.