NYC Business Leaders Make Big Push for Amazon Headquarters
Amazon solicited proposals for the second headquarters in September.
(Bloomberg) -- A group of New York City business leaders -- including the heads of Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley, American Express Co. and Blackstone Group -- are urging Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos to pick the Big Apple for its second headquarters, saying the city has an unrivaled talent pool and an accessible transit system.
Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit economic development group, said it will send a letter to Amazon Monday signed by more than 70 business leaders from various industries, including banking, finance, commercial real estate, retail and media. The group is hoping the large population and the diverse talent from various industries compensates for the region’s biggest drawback of being one of the most-expensive housing markets in the country.
Seattle-based Amazon in September solicited proposals for the second headquarters, a project that is expected to cost more than $5 billion and create 50,000 jobs during the next 15 to 17 years. Politicians across the U.S. and Canada have eagerly expressed interest. New York has competition from big cities such as Boston and Chicago and smaller markets including Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Memphis, Tennessee. The company set an Oct. 19 deadline for proposals and plans to make a decision next year.
The New York region boasts 5.8 million residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher, more than other contenders Los Angeles, Denver and Boston, according to the letter. The region’s 100 universities awarded more than 18,000 post-secondary degrees in science, technology, engineering and math, the letter says.
“New York Metro is the world’s largest and most diverse regional economy,” according to the letter. “It features unparalleled diversity of industry talent and institutional resources, all of which would enhance Amazon’s prodigious strengths and generate new opportunities to learn, grow, and partner.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Spencer Soper in Seattle at ssoper@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Bruce Rule, Mark Niquette