NYC Amazon Bid Draws More Than Two Dozen Ideas, City Says

NEW YORK CITY — More than 40 organizations and developers submitted two dozen proposals for an Amazon headquarters in New York, the city's Economic Development Corporation said Wednesday. The plans identified sites in 23 neighborhoods across the five boroughs totaling more than 50 million square feet where the tech giant could set up shop, the agency said.

The ideas came in response to the city's Sept. 15 request for developers to identify privately owned sites that could be coupled with city land to attract Amazon's East Coast headquarters. The Seattle-based firm issued a request for proposals from governments across the country on Sept. 7 seeking spots that could encompass more than 8 million square feet and cost $5 billion to build.

The Economic Development Corporation would not say exactly how many proposals it received or which developers submitted them. The city will review the ideas and present a proposal to Amazon by Oct. 19, the agency said.

"Now we know that New York can choose from dozens of potential headquarters sites with over 50 million square feet of office space to make the strongest possible bid," James Patchett, the corporation's president and CEO, said in a statement. "We continue to separate ourselves from the competition and demonstrate that we are the clear choice for Amazon's second headquarters."

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New York City is competing with major cities and states across the U.S. that are eager to attract Amazon. The second headquarters, known as HQ2, would employ up to 50,000 people and could grow local economies by billions of dollars, the company says. Amazon is seeking a metropolitan area with at least a million people and a "stable and business-friendly environment."

The Economic Development Corporation noted that New York is already home to Amazon corporate offices, retail space and a forthcoming fulfillment center on Staten Island.

State officials are also reportedly working to court Amazon. Empire State Development, the state's Economic Development agency, is ready to offer a sizable incentive package to draw Amazon to cities such as New York, Buffalo or Rochester, agency President Howard Zemsky told POLITICO New York.

The city's and state's chief executives, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, are locked in an ongoing feud. But the city Economic Development Corporation said it is "closely coordinating" its efforts with the state and expects to submit a joint city-state proposal to Amazon.

"This is a competitive process across North America, so you can expect us to be competitive because it’s a great economic opportunity for the state, for any city in the state, and truthfully anywhere that Amazon picks in this state would be good for the whole state," Zemsky told POLITICO New York.

(Lead image by David Ryder/Getty Images)