KCRag Forum

Highlander wrote:Here's my favorite location. It's a midtown location. Between Gillham and Main and Linwood and 34th terrace. It would be a great location and Amazon would be a huge improvement over what's there now. (albeit traffic may be a bit of an issue with no nearby interstate)

Why do people hate the school district? Can they not have an athletic complex?

Highlander wrote:LOL - maybe we should move this thread out of the Downtown Development Discussion.

Here's my favorite location. It's a midtown location. Between Gillham and Main and Linwood and 34th terrace. It would be a great location and Amazon would be a huge improvement over what's there now. (albeit traffic may be a bit of an issue with no nearby interstate)

Oh the irony considering Amazon is slowly putting THD and Costco out of business. Sadly, I fear we'll be stuck with that suburban parking lot wasteland for at least another decade until one of those stores closes.

tower wrote:I was under the impression that Amazon only wanted one location in the RFP response?

If I recall they want one proposal per metro/market but multiple sites can be included.

Jesus, guys. Take a fucking breath. It doesn’t matter what KC pitches. Amazon’s decision has been made for years, they know exactly where they are moving. This whole thing is just a fucking marketing gimmick. Your hysterics have now dragged me into this protracted Amazon commercial. I will never forgive any of you.

well seems like sly's tactic got noted by fortune magazine.

http://fortune.com/2017/10/12/amazon-hq2-kansas-city/

KC's bid has the help of Richard Florida and Joel Kotkin. Amazon will more likely take a look at KC's bid just to see what those two have to say. Doesn't need Sly's antics.

But yes chingon, point taken and everyone realizes chances are slim. KC doesn't have a major international airport which is required, unless international travel is just for senior management and KC's downtown airport very close to downtown suffices for their private jets. Is still appropriate to discuss KC putting it's best bid forward. And the documents/lessons learned can be applied to future bids, even if for branch offices.

this morning on NPR, they did a story on all the "quirky" things that cities are doing to get Amazon's attention. like Tucson sent a giant cactus to seattle. multiple mayors did cheesy videos as well. it made me feel a little better that Sly's antics are not any worse (or better) than the apparent norm.

chrizow wrote:this morning on NPR, they did a story on all the "quirky" things that cities are doing to get Amazon's attention. like Tucson sent a giant cactus to seattle. multiple mayors did cheesy videos as well. it made me feel a little better that Sly's antics are not any worse (or better) than the apparent norm.

Sly James was interviewed on Fox Business this morning about the #5StarKC campaign for Amazon. He said the credit for the product review idea goes to the team they've assembled to get the bid and not himself but he loves the idea. He was also asked about what he thought of use of massive incentives and said that it is a state issue not just a local issue regarding incentives and all options are being studied, he believes this is more than just a once in a lifetime opportunity and is willing to do all possible to get this.

Sly at least showed an understanding that they're a business, not an art gallery or film festival. Buying and reviewing products is central to their mission.

Apparently our bid is contingent on unproven technology.

http://www.kshb.com/welcome?redirect=ht ... technology

Missouri is a seperate proposal for both cities, KC and STL both have their own seperate bids

Yeah, well, it splashed and got some on us.

Sites in Independence and Lee’s Summit were pitched.

ldai_phs wrote:Sites in Independence and Lee’s Summit were pitched.

As well as Olathe and DOWNTOWN KC and the Riverfront. Almost surprised to see downtown in there. Amazon would be ideal for the east loop.

But really, I think the Cotsco - Home Depot site would be great too. Nice way to erase that urban disaster.

Highlander wrote:

ldai_phs wrote:Sites in Independence and Lee’s Summit were pitched.

As well as Olathe and DOWNTOWN KC and the Riverfront. Almost surprised to see downtown in there. Amazon would be ideal for the east loop.

But really, I think the Cotsco - Home Depot site would be great too. Nice way to erase that urban disaster.

I think it is safe to say that any open spot with more that 50 acres and road access got pitched. I read somewhere that Charlotte submitted 22 sites, so at least one other city submitted lots of sites.

I guess that since this is mostly just a marketing exercise for the city anyway, why not market all available sites?

I have a feeling this is the site Amazon will choose. I would say a 50/50 chance the Boston area gets it, and that this will be the location--Union Point.



One of the primary reasons is a lot of undeveloped space, but already planned, in one location with all new infrastructure being built from scratch as a smart city. It has a commuter rail station with a 20 minute ride into downtown Boston. There is plenty of space to build out employee homes. Many are already built, or started. The site has one owner, and is already designed for 10 million sq. feet of commercial space. But the primary advantage is the quick approval process for building. Where in other cities it might take years to get approval, developers can get approved here in days.

Article:

http://tinyurl.com/y7gcqud7

Video

http://tinyurl.com/yb3lz8ms

http://unionpointma.com/

If Kansas City wanted to change its' fortunes, it needs to rezone Paseo West downtown, and redevelop the entire area into a dense, mixed use district like is shown in the Union Point Youtube videos.

It's very difficult to place 8 million sq. feet of office space in the East Village of downtown, and also have to deal with employee parking. Our mass transit system is not robust and well-established like many larger cities. Not all Amazon employees are going to want to live in apartments downtown.

However, if you took the East Village and combined it with Paseo West, you might be able to incorporate that much office space and new multi-tenant housing to handle Amazon. It would require a larger streetcar system, and probably a commuter rail system be in place (which isn't now). It would also require a citizenry willing to allow such a streetcar expansion. Keep in mind that there are many that still actively oppose streetcar expansion.

Kansas City is too far behind the ball to land Amazon. Maybe in 20 years it could have--if all the above were in place.

http://www.kmbc.com/article/recent-rank ... m/13054873

One more thing to keep in mind with any location Amazon picks. I believe there will be some consideration given to the political climate. States that are hell-bent on fighting culture wars: religious freedom laws, bathroom bills, outlawing abortion or access to birth control, and finding ways to deny minority civil rights are probably not going to get considered.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1023335 ... a=!3m1!1e3

We need regional mass transit if we are serious about attracting a major employer or growing our employment base in anything but a ho-hum manner.

FangKC wrote: It's very difficult to place 8 million sq. feet of office space in the East Village of downtown, and also have to deal with employee parking. Our mass transit system is not robust and well-established like many larger cities. Not all Amazon employees are going to want to live in apartments downtown.

However, if you took the East Village and combined it with Paseo West, you might be able to incorporate that much office space and new multi-tenant housing to handle Amazon. It would require a larger streetcar system, and probably a commuter rail system be in place (which isn't now). It would also require a citizenry willing to allow such a streetcar expansion. Keep in mind that there are many that still actively oppose streetcar expansion.

Kansas City is too far behind the ball to land Amazon. Maybe in 20 years it could have--if all the above were in place.

http://www.kmbc.com/article/recent-rank ... m/13054873

One more thing to keep in mind with any location Amazon picks. I believe there will be some consideration given to the political climate. States that are hell-bent on fighting culture wars: religious freedom laws, bathroom bills, outlawing abortion or access to birth control, and finding ways to deny minority civil rights are probably not going to get considered.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1023335 ... a=!3m1!1e3

I agree that East Village may be too small of an area on its own but there are other places in downtown not that far way that could augment the site and, as you say, in Paseo West that would help accommodate them. If they want to go to a downtown location, you probably will not find any parcel in the US any bigger than East Village, especially in any city that has decent public transportation. While KC is far behind in the public transportation area, so are most cities in the US not called NY or San Francisco. Lets face it, you can live without a car in more progressive cities like Denver, Seattle and Portland but its still pretty restricting. And the traffic in those cities dwarf KC's traffic issues suggesting that most people, even in these progressive cities, still choose to commute by vehicle. KC is behind but not sure how much difference that is going to make as I suspect the vast majority of Amazon employees will want cars and use them to commute.

Now, when it comes to political climate, you may be right. Missouri has the propensity to be consistently shooting itself in the foot in this area as it did when Stowers put the brakes on expansion due to possible threats to stem cell research. As long as politicians think they can eke more votes out of their constituency by that kind of nonsense than actually doing something that will help the state, this type of self inflicted injury remains a strong possibility.

Kansas too.