Amazon has triggered a $5 billion bidding war — here are some of the craziest proposals for its new headquarters
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After Amazon announced in September that it plans to build a second headquarters in an undetermined location, it received 238 bids from cities, states, and regions across North America. Each proposal detailed why that place should be chosen for Amazon's new second home.
The company says its new campus, called HQ2, will bring 50,000 new jobs to the city where it winds up being built. The e-commerce giant will invest $5 billion in the construction, making the offer one of the largest corporate-civic opportunities in recent American history.
The shortlist is expected to be revealed some time in early 2018, and many cities have disclosed their plans to woo Amazon. Some are more extreme than others.
Here are a few of the most out-there bids.
Columbia, St. Louis, and Kansas City, Missouri — a proposal to build a Hyperloop between the state's three largest cities
J Byard/ShutterstockMissouri submitted a state-wide bid that offers Amazon a choice of three locations for HQ2: Colombia, St. Louis, or Kansas City. If Amazon comes to the state, Missouri Economic Development officials told local outlet KMOV that it would build Hyperloop stations in each of the three cities.
In the state's bid, Missouri touts a proposed "innovation corridor" that would connect St. Louis and Kansas City in approximately 25 minutes, with a stop in Colombia in between. Normally, it takes nearly four hours to drive from St. Louis to Kansas City. A flight takes about an hour.
A feasibility study for Missouri's Hyperloop project is already underway — at an estimated cost of $1.5 million. The state may build the Hyperloop regardless of Amazon's decision.
Dallas, Texas — a development that would surround a proposed station for a $15 billion bullet train
Texas Central Rail Co.Developers from the firms Matthews Southwest and Texas Central Partners are pitching a transit-oriented development for Amazon's HQ2 campus, according to the Dallas Business Journal. The headquarters would include a proposed station for a bullet train, which Dallas magazine reports is expected to cost $15 billion. If fully approved by the city, the 240-mile line would transport passengers from Houston to Dallas in 90 minutes.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has formally expressed support for the train plan, which is likely to happen with or without Amazon. Developers hope to start construction on the development by late 2018.
Dallas, Texas — the site of a former (nearly dead) shopping mall
Dallas MidtownAnother Dallas proposal proposal comes from three developers who want Amazon — the e-commerce giant that pioneered the growth of online shopping — to move into the old site of the Valley View Mall.
Dallas News reports that the proposal calls for the construction of a 500,000-square-foot office building, which would be a part of a larger 430-acre district.
The building's parking garage was demolished this summer. Now only a theater, a few art galleries, some pizza joints, and a smoothie shop remain.
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