More details revealed in Philly’s bid for Amazon HQ2

Along with hundreds of other cities, Philly submitted its bid for Amazon HQ2 in October, complete with flashy videos highlighting the city’s affordability, talent, and livability and a list of potential sites for the e-commerce giant to set up shop.

But the nitty-gritty of Philly’s official bid had been left a mystery. Now, the Inquirer has acquired a copy of the city’s bid, and although it was heavily redacted, there’s now a clearer picture of what the city dangled in front of Amazon to lure its 50,000 employees to Philly.

Here are a few takeaways:

• Along with offering three sites—Schuylkill Yards, uCity Square, and the Navy Yard—to Amazon, the bid noted that there was 280,000 square feet of available office space within 30th Street Station.
• In total, there is about 4.2 million square feet of development potential within Schuylkill Yards, uCity Square, and 30th Street Station alone.
• There are two historic buildings at the Navy Yard totaling 1.3 million square feet; another 10 million square feet of development would be allowed.
• The redacted information included data on things like housing prices and educational attainment.

Amazon, which received 238 proposals, said it will make its decision in 2018. The second headquarters is expected to invest more than $5 billion in construction and create some 50,000 jobs.

• Philly Amazon HQ2 bid dangled office space in 30th Street Station, bid document shows [Inquirer]