North Texas leaders are touting many possible locations for a second Amazon headquarters location in this region as they assemble a proposal for the company.
North Texas leaders are touting many possible locations for a second Amazon headquarters location in this region as they assemble a proposal for the company.
Amazon announced earlier this month that it is seeking proposals for a duplicate of its current Seattle headquarters for up to 50,000 new employees.
"I think it's been spectacularly good for Seattle," said Matt McIlwain, with Madrona Venture Group.
The Seattle-based venture capital firm was an early investor in Amazon. Madrona also has Texas investments, and McIlwain said he has traveled to the Dallas-Fort Worth area many times.
McIlwain said North Texas should be a strong contender for Amazon's second headquarters.
"There's a lot of good innovation going on in Dallas, and in Texas, where generally as a state, Texas is one of the pro-business hospitable states. I think that will also matter," McIlwain said.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, a former Pizza Hut CEO, recently returned from a visit to Seattle to size up the Amazon competition.
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"It would be great to win this, but there's long odds to be able to do it," Rawlings said. "I think that we could be the right partner for them, because we have the resources, the scale."
Multiple property owners in Dallas and other North Texas cities have asked to be included as options in a North Texas bid. In Dallas, locations include property near Fair Park, on both sides of the Trinity River near downtown and the Midtown redevelopment project along Interstate 635 LBJ Freeway at Preston Road.
In Irving, locations near the former Texas Stadium site and in Las Colinas have been mentioned.
The area in Fort Worth along North Main Street to be called Panther Island that will soon have a light rail line to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has also been suggested.
"Dallas and Fort Worth work very well together, and we'll do so on this," Rawlings said. "Second, it helps us, because we have more options, and I'll tell you want Amazon has wanted and needs in the future is options, because they move so fast. If they need to turn left a little bit, they want to make sure left is as good as right. And we've got that for them."
Amazon's request for proposals specifies a metropolitan area of at least one million people, with a stable and business friendly environment, with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent, with on-site mass transit and near a major international airport.
"It's going to be a very Amazon-centric decision, but if you just look through the check list, we've got almost all the things that Amazon wants," said Mike Cox, professor at the Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business. "I think we're in a great position to attract Amazon."
Amazon's Seattle campus includes 33 buildings, and residential development and other businesses have sprung up in the area to support Amazon.
The Amazon request for proposals specifies a deadline of Oct. 19th with final site selection in 2018.
Amazon's Request for Proposals:
