Detroit is not getting the Amazon HQ2 project.
238 proposals were submitted from across North America the company’s second headquarters in North America.
The HQ2 project is a plan to invest over $5 billion and hire as many as 50,000 people in high-paying jobs. The company says that construction and ongoing operation of Amazon HQ2 is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the surrounding community.
Metro Detroit did not make the cut of the top 20, based on criteria in their Request For Proposals that included areas of more than one million people, mass transit, and a stable business environment.
Here are the top 20 in alphabetical order:
- 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.
“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 in statement. “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.”
So what did local leaders have to say? Here’s Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
We would have loved to have made it into the next round for Amazon’s second headquarters but everyone here is incredibly proud of the proposal we submitted. It showed a clear vision for the future of our city and brought out the very best of our city and our region.
I want to thank Dan Gilbert, the Governor, County Executives, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens and the entire bid team for an extraordinary effort in a short period of time. We learned a great deal from this process and it was a very valuable experience. We’re going to keep building on the progress we’ve made and keep pursuing major developments. I expect that the lessons we learned in the Amazon process will help make us more successful on a number of other major potential investments that we are currently pursuing.
We’re going right back to work today to work on those other projects.
And Dan Gilbert, who has been investing in Detroit in many ways during the last few years:
Obviously, we are all disappointed Amazon did not name Detroit as one of the 20 cities they will be further evaluating for their new “HQ2”.
We are not deterred in any way, shape or form. Detroit is the most exciting city in the country right now and the momentum continues to build every single day.
All you have to do is spend an hour walking around town and you will have a very clear and deep understanding of the opportunities, optimism and future of the motor city.
We have no doubt our best days are ahead of us. There are numerous large and small deals you will continue to see develop into reality in the months and years ahead.
