Amazon HQ2

[MaxConcrete]

5 hours ago, Twinsanity02 said:

How much of a chance do you all Generation Park has? 

 

I think the chance Generation Park will be selected is zero.

 

Generation Park's main objective is almost surely to get some publicity and drive some traffic to their web site. I barely knew anything about Generation Park, and now I know much more about it after going to their site. And if local real estate types become more familiar with Generation Park, then Generation Park has achieved its goal.

[Vy65]

39 minutes ago, MaxConcrete said:

 

I think the chance Generation Park will be selected is zero.

 

Generation Park's main objective is almost surely to get some publicity and drive some traffic to their web site. I barely knew anything about Generation Park, and now I know much more about it after going to their site. And if local real estate types become more familiar with Generation Park, then Generation Park has achieved its goal.

It’s unfortunate they submitted a bid at all considering Amazons 1 city, 1 proposal preference 

[JJxvi]

I don't think Generation Park is even in the City of Houston.

[Vy65]

http://www.chron.com/business/article/To-lure-Amazon-Houston-leaders-point-to-12299319.php

[CREguy13]

What would be the barriers towards using the land that is currently Hermann Park Golf Course?  Surrounded by Running Trails, Brays Bayou and adjacent to TMC, TMC3, Rice University and Museum District.  Short walk to Red Line station, so direct access to all Houston sporting arenas, midtown, downtown, etc.  Access from 59 and 288.  Although it's owned by TMC, the Nabisco Building is two blocks away and has 600,000 SF, which I believe only 100,000 is being used by TMCX and JLABS.

 

Thoughts on why it can't happen?

[Ross]

28 minutes ago, CREguy13 said:

What would be the barriers towards using the land that is currently Hermann Park Golf Course?  Surrounded by Running Trails, Brays Bayou and adjacent to TMC, TMC3, Rice University and Museum District.  Short walk to Red Line station, so direct access to all Houston sporting arenas, midtown, downtown, etc.  Access from 59 and 288.  Although it's owned by TMC, the Nabisco Building is two blocks away and has 600,000 SF, which I believe only 100,000 is being used by TMCX and JLABS.

 

Thoughts on why it can't happen?

Because it's a park, not some site to be given to Amazon. It was the first desegregated golf course in the US. Lots of people play golf there, few of them well off enough to play elsewhere. There's a bigger benefit to the City to have the open space than to build a corporate campus, etc, etc, etc.

[gmac]

The last thing in the world Houston needs to do is replace park land with some giant office complex. No.

[H-Town Man]

14 hours ago, CREguy13 said:

What would be the barriers towards using the land that is currently Hermann Park Golf Course?  Surrounded by Running Trails, Brays Bayou and adjacent to TMC, TMC3, Rice University and Museum District.  Short walk to Red Line station, so direct access to all Houston sporting arenas, midtown, downtown, etc.  Access from 59 and 288.  Although it's owned by TMC, the Nabisco Building is two blocks away and has 600,000 SF, which I believe only 100,000 is being used by TMCX and JLABS.

 

Thoughts on why it can't happen?

 

Because it's roughly half of the city's most important park? You don't give away parkland. No one does. Imagine if we had given away half of Hermann Park to whoever was the big company of the moment fifty years ago. Tenneco maybe. Today it would just be a bunch of obsolete buildings. Corporations flame brightly and then burn out. Parks are the soul of a city.

 

(Before someone reminds me that we gave away part of Hermann Park for the Med Center, that was a different time, hospitals are a public benefit and have staying power in a way that corporations don't, and I think they should have found another way to make that work.)

 

Keep in mind that this is a back office, and I'm not even sure I would like letting them have the East River site. An educational institution would be a much better choice for it. But Houston has made it clear that educational institutions not named UH can GTFO.

 

[UtterlyUrban]

I think that we should give Amazon, free, ALL of Herman Park and all of Memorial Park too.  They can have two campuses —north AND South!  We. An toss in lots and lots of free tax incentives and free development and infrastructure improvements to make sure that this private business can externalize all the costs of growth.  Heck, We certainly don’t need all the grass and maintenance cost that green plants bring.

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

rumors floating around Seattle say Atlanta is getting HQ2. 
Vegas has Austin at 3:2 odds, Atlanta doesn't even register.

[UtterlyUrban]

The press has been saying “Atlanta” for a week or so.   I imagine that it would go along the belt-line some where..

 

 

[MaxConcrete]

14 hours ago, UtterlyUrban said:

The press has been saying “Atlanta” for a week or so.   I imagine that it would go along the belt-line some where..

 

 

I seem to recall that Atlanta was heavily favored for the G.E. headquarters, which of course went to Boston.

It seems much too soon for the winner to be leaked if this is in fact a true competition. Most likely there will be a short list of finalists. On the other hand, if Amazon had Atlanta in mind from the beginning and Atlanta's proposal was good, the decision could be made very quickly. But even if there was a predisposition for Atlanta (or any other city), I think Amazon will want to create the perception of carefully considering all the alternatives since so much effort was expended by all the candidates making site submissions.

[samagon]

On 10/19/2017 at 7:46 PM, Ross said:

TI had a major presence in the Houston area at the time, with big plants in Stafford and out 290, so it's entirely possible the Compaq founders were here already.

 

They were in Houston, it seems you aren't familiar with how Compaq came to be a company. The founders were sitting in House of Pies on Westheimer when they sketched out the first Compaq computer on a napkin.

[Twinsanity02]

Why would Amazon go for Austin? Austin has UT,  a good music scene, and some nice hills ( pluses), but no major airport, no major league sports, I understand the traffic is quite bad, and where is their mass transit? Austin's "weirdness" image is all mass produced "weirdness" you can see anywhere. Overrated. As much as it pains me to say, DFW and Atlanta are better picks, especially Dallas.   Houston of course is the best of all picks.

[Fringe]

17 hours ago, Twinsanity02 said:

Why would Amazon go for Austin? Austin has UT,  a good music scene, and some nice hills ( pluses), but no major airport, no major league sports, I understand the traffic is quite bad, and where is their mass transit? Austin's "weirdness" image is all mass produced "weirdness" you can see anywhere. Overrated. As much as it pains me to say, DFW and Atlanta are better picks, especially Dallas.   Houston of course is the best of all picks.

I  agree with you about Austin although none of that has stopped other tech companies from locating there. 

 

If they build out in the suburbs of a city then I don't see how mass transit or traffic is relevant.  

[H-Town Man]

On ‎9‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 10:38 PM, H-Town Man said:

The flooding is going to fade in the rearview mirror, especially when Houston treats the nation to a rousing World Series victory this fall, its stunning downtown on display. Convince yourself you deserve something and you will be amazed what you can get. Go for the hottest girl in the room.

 

EFF-ING TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD YOU SO!

 

[IronTiger]

On 10/30/2017 at 6:09 PM, Twinsanity02 said:

Why would Amazon go for Austin? Austin has UT,  a good music scene, and some nice hills ( pluses), but no major airport, no major league sports, I understand the traffic is quite bad, and where is their mass transit? Austin's "weirdness" image is all mass produced "weirdness" you can see anywhere. Overrated. As much as it pains me to say, DFW and Atlanta are better picks, especially Dallas.   Houston of course is the best of all picks.

They did convert a defunct freight lane into a somewhat useless commuter rail, which I have nothing against; however, it's only one-track. And their refusal of freeways (at least in the Oak Hill area) makes that area pretty difficult to get around in.

[Twinsanity02]

What do you all think of the three surface lots between Austin and Caroline, south of the Four season? It is near several hotels, discovery green, the convention center,  MMP, toyota center and is walking distance to rail lines. One last thing, when the Hardy downtown connector is finished this area of the downtown will have fast access to Bush Intercontinental. 

[ArchFan]

Re Compaq:  my recollection is that the guys who sketched the original design on a paper napkin were (or had been) TI employees at the Stafford plant.  It's a shame that Houston lost one of its largest companies, which also happened to be a nationally important tech company for a number of years.  

 

Re Amazon:  OK, I won't mention that the TMC was built on land that was (or could have been) part of Hermann Park.  However, when 610 and 10 were built, they took a lot of land from Memorial Park.  Supposedly the Hogg Family that donated Memorial Park to the CoH did so on the condition that the land would revert to them if it was every used for any purpose other than as a park.  So ... I'm not sure on the details of how that transfer was done in accordance with that ... perhaps eminent domain?

[MaxConcrete]

This news article doesn't explain the legal issues involved in the acquisition of Memorial Park property for 610. But it says the proceeds were used to acquire new park sites. Keep in mind that the city, county and population all wanted freeways as fast as possible back in those days, so taking a thin 23-acre sliver from a huge 1489-acre park was viewed as acceptable in those days.

 

For the Hermann Park property which became the Medical center, I remember reading reports that a leading official (I think it was Planning Director Ralph Ellifrit) strongly objected to the development of the land since it was naturally wooded.

[samagon]

as much as I like park land, for the hundreds of thousands of people that have jobs and make Houston more than just an oil town, I think it's worth it.

[gmac]

If Amazon wants to buy Hermann Park, we should sell it to them for $10 million an acre.

 

Not one penny should go to subsidize anything Amazon wants to do here. Not one.

[Mr.Clean19]

Houston Ranked #23 behind a well placed Austin #6 and Dallas #7. Atlanta seems to have the best chance with a 2:1 odds favorite, followed closely by Austin. Hopefully we get high speed rail out of all of this. Houston, Dallas, Austin.

 

http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2017/11/15/detroit-ranks-no-22-amazon-hq-2-contenders-list-but-high-enough/862710001/

 

[htownbro]

25 minutes ago, Mr.Clean19 said:

Houston Ranked #23 behind a well placed Austin #6 and Dallas #7. Atlanta seems to have the best chance with a 2:1 odds favorite, followed closely by Austin. Hopefully we get high speed rail out of all of this. Houston, Dallas, Austin.

 

http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2017/11/15/detroit-ranks-no-22-amazon-hq-2-contenders-list-but-high-enough/862710001/

 

I'm hearing Denver may be the landing spot but Houston is an underdog so who knows.

[MaxConcrete]

Includes link to Greater Houston Partnership video

 

http://abc13.com/business/houston-wants-amazon-hq---and-its-50000-new-jobs/2714863/

 

 

[Houston19514]

1 hour ago, MaxConcrete said:

Includes link to Greater Houston Partnership video

 

http://abc13.com/business/houston-wants-amazon-hq---and-its-50000-new-jobs/2714863/

 

 

 

Great video!  Thanks for posting.

[H-Town Man]

On ‎11‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 8:55 AM, Mr.Clean19 said:

Houston Ranked #23 behind a well placed Austin #6 and Dallas #7. Atlanta seems to have the best chance with a 2:1 odds favorite, followed closely by Austin. Hopefully we get high speed rail out of all of this. Houston, Dallas, Austin.

 

http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2017/11/15/detroit-ranks-no-22-amazon-hq-2-contenders-list-but-high-enough/862710001/

 

 

Some of these rankings are so hilarious you wonder how the people who make them can get paid for what they do. Chicago, with the economy and corruption levels of Zimbabwe, ranks third, while Houston, the fastest growing city of the past decade, ranks 23rd, behind Detroit, the national symbol of urban failure? Just what were they basing any of this on?

 

[IronTiger]

 

13 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

 

Some of these rankings are so hilarious you wonder how the people who make them can get paid for what they do. Chicago, with the economy and corruption levels of Zimbabwe, ranks third, while Houston, the fastest growing city of the past decade, ranks 23rd, behind Detroit, the national symbol of urban failure? Just what were they basing any of this on?

 

Amazon had a list of arbitrary things they wanted like mass transit, highly qualified people, etc. but placing Houston behind Detroit doesn't make sense. Detroit as a city is under a million people, and the combined MSA two and a half million people short of Houston's. They built a light rail, I think, along with their theme park ride around downtown, and neither of them is as useful as the Houston light rail system, which is quite functional in comparison, and if we're talking rail mass transit, Austin's is a joke. Additionally, Detroit doesn't have an educated population base, and isn't particularly diverse either at 83% black, unless you were one of those types that read "diversity" explicitly as "non-white", in which case Detroit would fit that, yes.

[102IAHexpress]

Every speculative or "expert" list of likely cities should be thrown out the window in light of the likelihood of the new tax law passing. Cities with high sate and local taxes are about to have their party come to an end, with homeowners now limited on how much they can deduct on their federal taxes regarding their SALT. Boston, Chicago, San Jose, San Francisco, NYC, Portland, all just got eliminated from contention. Houston's chances dramatically improved. 

[Twinsanity02]

Interesting speculation 102IAH express. I hope you are correct. Could you possibly elaborate on this? First what do you mean by SALT? This use to mean Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty in olden days.