Is Amazon Stringing Los Angeles Along?

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles city officials say they’ve been aggressively wooing Amazon for it’s second headquarters since LA was named the only West Coast finalist among 20 candidate cities earlier this year. But does LA really have a shot?

City officials are in ongoing talks with Amazon, it was reported Friday. Increasingly, experts and investors are putting their money on the Washington DC Metro area, where Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is currently renovating a pair of mansions he owns and where he also owns the Washington Post.

Amazon named three DC area communities as finalists including Montgomery County, Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington DC. According to Bloomberg, Third Avenue Real Estate Value Fund is touting its holdings in Maryland, telling investors the chances are strong that Amazon will locate its second headquarters in the area, driving real estate values through the roof.

"I don't think Los Angeles is a player for this project simply because there are more strategic aims Amazon is looking for" which "directs you to Washington, northern Virginia and Maryland," Thomas Stringer, a corporate location specialist and consultant told the Los Angeles Times Friday. Amazon "has in mind three or five locations that really hit its strategic aims and having the 20 [finalists] is more for show and posturing than anything else."

But Los Angeles officials aren’t counting out The City Of Angels. Bezos already owns two homes in the area.

"We have been in consistent communication with Amazon about the details of our bid and we're making a strong case that the company ought to choose L.A.," Alex Comisar, a spokesman for Garcetti told the Times. "Mayor Garcetti looks forward to continuing an aggressive pursuit of this opportunity as the process moves forward.”

According to the newspaper, Amazon officials haven’t actually met with the mayor. Few details of the city’s bid have been made public. The Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation submitted nine possible sites in Los Angeles County, but it did not publicly identify them. Rumored locations include the Warner Center in Woodland Hills, Long Beach, Pomona and Santa Clarita.

Amazon set off a nationwide frenzy in September when it announced plans to spend $5 billion on a campus to serve as a second headquarters that would generate as many as 50,000 well-paying jobs. For many, Los Angeles was seen as a longshot because Amazon is already headquartered on the West Coast in Seattle. Candidate cities are expected to be large with a deep and highly educated labor pool.

Critics of the bidding process contend eager cities will give away too much in tax incentives to a behemoth that is likely to exacerbate the housing shortage in Southern California.

Amazon officials estimate the company added $38 billion to the Seattle economy between 2010 and 2016.

(Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)