Beyond Amazon HQ2: 'We Are Not Deterred' Says Quicken's Gilbert

DETROIT, MI – The Motor City's hopes were up. It put together a plan. But Detroit failed to win over the big wigs at Amazon.

The online retailer on Thursday listed 20 cities across the nation as finalists for where it might locate its gigantic second headquarters. Detroit should not feel bad – much of the Midwest was overlooked. The list of finalists includes Columbus, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.

Detroit's effort to get the gigantic operation was led by Dan Gilbert, who put together the Motor City's proposal, which included a video showcasing the city and a more than 240-page, color, spiral-bound book, reported the Associated Press. The cost of the proposal has not been revealed.

"We are not deterred in any way, shape or form," said the founder of Quicken Loans and Bedrock commercial real estate. "Detroit is the most exciting city in the country right now and the momentum continues to build every single day. There are numerous large and small deals you will continue to see develop into reality in the months and years ahead."

In a conference call with Detroit leaders, Amazon officials said that Metro Detroit's lack of a regional transit system hurt it chances, according to a report by WXYZ. Khalil Rahal, the Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation for Wayne County, told the TV station:

“They talked about more of the kind of amenities that we needed to be able to attract people from other places. They specifically brought up transit. Transit was an issue for them.”

Meanwhile, there are also several cities that might be considered tech darlings, such as Austin, Texas, Boston and Raleigh, North Carolina. There are several metropolis markets, including Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and, of course, New York.

The numerous east coast cities – Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Maryland, Northern Virginia, Newark, Miami and Washington, D.C. – indicate that Amazon officials are looking from their current Seattle headquarters and looking for something outside of their existing zone.

The retailer said in its announcement Thursday that the new facility will be a complete headquarters for Amazon, "not a satellite office." The company plans to invest more than $5 billion and grow this second headquarters to accommodate as many as 50,000 jobs.

"Thank you to all 238 communities that submitted proposals. Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough – all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity," said Holly Sullivan, Amazon Public Policy. "Through this process we learned about many new communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation."

The company will now pare down the list of finalists to a single location. That announcement is expected later this year, the company said.

Here is the complete list of finalist cities:

- Atlanta, GA
- Austin, TX
- Boston, MA
- Chicago, IL
- Columbus, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Denver, CO
- Indianapolis, IN
- Los Angeles, CA
- Miami, FL
- Montgomery County, MD
- Nashville, TN
- Newark, NJ
- New York City, NY
- Northern Virginia, VA
- Philadelphia, PA
- Pittsburgh, PA
-Raleigh, NC
- Toronto, ON
- Washington D.C.

File photo by Julio Cortez/Associated Press