This past year Jeff Bezos and the Amazon team announced one of, if not, the biggest expansion projects of this generation. Amazon HQ2 will be Amazon\u2019s second headquarters with an expected investment of over $5 Billion dollars in construction (yes you read that correctly) and could include as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs. In addition to its direct hiring, construction and ongoing operations of HQ2 are expected to also generate tens of thousands of additional jobs in the encompassing community. Taking on such an enormous endeavor that will affect millions of people and generate tens of billions of dollars is no easy task. Project managers have to be on top of their game if they want to successfully build and operate this new base.<\/p>\n
Amazon is still in the early Planning stage of this project, currently narrowing down their search for the best potential location. The first proposal for the core requirements needed for the possible area was revealed in September of 2017. (If you would like to read the actual requirements and submission request you can find it here \u2014> https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4112684-Amazon-Requirements.html<\/a>) They have yet to set a timeline for construction, seeing as they are waiting to select the final location, but they have confirmed the construction model. The initial build out is rumored to begin in 2019 and take place in three phases. $300-600 million will be spent during Phase 1 on 500,000 to 1 million square feet of offices and by Phase 3 it will be 2-3 million square feet. Phase 4 and beyond are stated to \u201cgrow organically\u201d with the full build-out exceeding 8 million square feet.<\/p>\n 238 proposals were submitted for HQ2 and on January 18 this list was narrowed down to a mere 20 finalist for the bidding process (shoutout to one of my neighboring cities Raleigh, NC for making the list). Candidates spared no expense when it came to their promotional campaigns for the the future headquarters. Tucson, Arizona sent a 21-foot cactus to Amazon, Georgia voted to de-annex a section of land, and Birmingham, Alabama set up several giant Amazon boxes and dash buttons around public areas, all in an attempt to promote their city\u2019s bid. Although these wacky stunts have caught executive\u2019s attention, the company stands firm in taking a data-driven approach to site selection.<\/p>\n