HOUSINGNEWS REPORT
AMAZON AND THE BATTLE FOR TOMORROW’S COMMUNITIES
Q3 2017 HOME AFFORDABI L ITY HEAT MAP Q3 2017AFFORDABILITY INDEX* (UNDER 100 IS LESS AFFORDABLE THAN HISTORIC AVERAGE)
“ ... it’s hard to imagine that a forward-thinking company like Amazon hasn’t already selected its preferred location. And, if that’s the case, then this public process is, intentionally or not, creating a bidding war amongst states and cities.”
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RON NIRENBERG MAYOR OF SAN ANTONIO
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Devon and the suburbs of Claredon Hills and Hinsdale outside Chicago.
California; 8) Boston, Massachusetts; 9) Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; and 10) Indianapolis, Indiana. The three metros with the largest year- over-year increases in the Growth Entrepreneurship Index rankings this year were Atlanta, Georgia; Portland, Oregon; and Indianapolis, Indiana.” Costs and Conflicts As much as billions in local spending would be a boon for any community, and as much as 50,000 well-paying jobs would be a windfall, the truth is that not everyone is interested because attracting Amazon raises questions of cost and conflicts. The community which lands the Amazon contract won’t get it for free. Amazon — a company which had sales of nearly $136 billion in 2016 — will undoubtedly get incentives worth billions of dollars from the HQ2 winner. New Jersey, as
one example, has offered roughly $7 billion in tax incentives if HQ2 is located near Newark. If Amazon expects to spend $5 billion on its new digs and can get $7 billion in incentives, then it effectively will obtain both a free new headquarters plus $2 billion.
How about the best beer scene? Hey, it has to be somewhere. USA Today says you should check-out Grand Rapids, Asheville, Fort Collins, Chicago, and Cleveland. Where can you find the next best place to be a start-up entrepreneur? How about Columbus, Ohio or Nashville? According to the Kauffman Index of Growth Entrepreneurship, “the geography of growth was very diverse, touching cities on both coasts, the South, and Midwest. The top ten metros with the highest growth entrepreneurship activity were: 1) Washington, D.C.; 2) Austin, Texas; 3) Columbus, Ohio; 4) Nashville, Tennessee; 5) Atlanta, Georgia; 6) San Jose, California; 7) San Francisco,
Meanwhile, San Antonio is not offering a dime.
“We’ve long been impressed by Amazon and its bold view of the future,” wrote Ron Nirenberg, the Mayor of San Antonio and Bexar County Judge Nelson W. Wolff in an October letter to Amazon. “Given this, it’s hard to imagine that a forward-thinking company like Amazon hasn’t already selected its preferred location. And, if that’s the case, then this public process is, intentionally or not, creating a bidding war amongst states and cities.
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DECEMBER 2017 | ATTOM DATA SOLUTIONS
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