Chicago Loses Amazon HQ2 To New York, Northern Virginia

CHICAGO — Amazon officials have chosen New York City and Northern Virginia as the sites for the online retailer's additional headquarters, leaving Chicago out in the cold. The company announced the decision Tuesday in a blog post, which also stated it was setting up its Operations Center of Excellence in Nashville, Tennessee.

While Chicago lost out on its bid for Amazon's HQ2, the city and other metro areas that were in the running could still "receive major sites," according to The Wall Steet Journal that originally broke them news of the decision Monday night. Amazon's search committee had visited Chicago twice this year — in March and August — as part of its decision-making process.

Amazon is expected to spend around $5 billion building and running HQ2, and the new headquarters is p to create 50,000 jobs. How or if that changes now that the campus will be split between two cities is not known.

Chicago was one of more than 200 cities that tried to woo Amazon and capture its much-coveted second headquarters away from its current Seattle campus, which covers 8.1 million square feet, includes 33 buildings and employs 40,000 people. The city submitted a bid in October 2017 that included $2.25 billion in incentives and offered 10 possible sites in the area, including spots in nearby Schaumburg and Oak Brook.

More Patch Coverage:

• Chicago, Amazon Talk About 2nd Headquarters In City
• Chicago Submits Amazon HQ2 Bid
• Chicago Lands On Amazon's List For 2nd HQ
• Amazon HQ2 Search Committee To Tour Chicago
• Emanuel Releases Chicago's Shatner-Narrated Amazon Bid Video
• Amazon HQ2: Chicago Protesters Don't Like City 'Hunger Games'
• Amazon Visited Chicago In August To Scout HQ2 Site

Before submitting the bid, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Bruce Rauner traveled to Seattle to meet with Amazon officals and tour the company's Pacific Northwest headquarters.

City officials even tried to appeal to the geek sensibilities of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in trying to land HQ2. Because Bezos is a huge "Star Trek" fan, a pitch video for Chicago included narration by William Shatner.

A study commissioned by World Business Chicago estimated that, over a 17-year period, HQ2 could generate:

• $341 billion in total spending for the city, thanks to ongoing operations. That includes $71 billion in salaries and wages, as well as supporting 37,500 added jobs to the region yearly.
• $7.4 billion in construction-related spending. That includes $2.4 billion in salaries and an average of 3,500 added jobs annually.
• $2.72 for the area's overall economy for each dollar the company invests in operations and construction.

Even though Amazon won't be calling Chicago its second home, the company still has been investing in the city. It has a downtown office that employs 200 people and recently doubled the size of the facility. A bricks-and-mortar Amazon bookstore has been in the Lake View neighborhood since 2016, and two cashierless Amazon Go stores opened this year, with at least two more locations set to open by 2019.

More via The Wall Street Journal

Image via Amazon