Amazon HQ2 in Bay Area: Leaders Submit Bid

CONCORD, CA -- Bay Area cities this week joined more than 100 others in submitting a bid to commerce technology giant Amazon with the hopes that it will open its second headquarters in the region.

The cities of Concord, Fremont, Oakland,Richmond and San Francisco, with the help of the Bay Area Council, submitted a bid offering several sites for a potential office.

“The Bay Area offers the whole package and is a natural and perfect fit for an innovation leader like Amazon,” said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council. “We are the world’s innovation capitol. We offer top talent, top universities and large development sites connected by a rich network of mass transit and other transportation systems. Our competitive advantages are unparalleled, including our strong connections to the huge Asia-Pacific region.”

The proposal includes more than 60 million square feet of high-quality office and research and development space, far exceeding Amazon’s requirement for up to 8 million square feet needed to house 50,000 workers. Leaders said all the sites provide mass transportation options.

Among the sites featured in the proposal are the Concord Naval Weapons Station in Concord, Coliseum City and numerous downtown locations in Oakland, the Warm Springs Innovation District in Fremont, Hunter’s Point Shipyard in San Francisco and the Richmond Field Station and Hilltop Mall in Richmond.

The proposal also includes a combined 45,000 units of new housing that cities envision being built in the coming years.

“We are extremely confident that steps we are taking now as a region to improve our housing and transportation infrastructure will address Amazon’s needs for its workforce and future growth,” Wunderman said. “Our housing production has increased three fold in just the past six years and numerous residential development sites throughout the region envision adding tens of thousands of more units in the next five to 10 years.”

Amazon is expected to make a decision next year.

(Photo by Reed Saxon/Associated Press)