It’s every developer’s dream: Amazon announced Thursday that it was looking to build a second headquarters in a new city, spending up to $5 billion to construct and operate a space that would hold 50,000 employees.
The company is already taking proposals for the project from states and municipalities looking to add jobs. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said, “We expect HQ2 to be a full equal to our Seattle headquarters,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
The e-commerce giant is narrowing its search for a new location, specifying that it plans to build in a major metropolitan area, within 45 minutes of an airport, near quality universities, and with a population of over 1 million people. In the U.S., there are about 80 areas that fit the description, according to the Journal. Amazon is looking to target engineers and others in the tech sector.
The company employs about 200,000 people in the U.S., with about 130,000 people working in its warehouses.
Bids for the second campus are due by Oct. 19, and the company expects a frenzy of proposals from states looking to boost employment.
The HQ2 announcement follows Amazon’s June $13.7 billion bombshell purchase of Whole Foods. The online retailer also revealed Wednesday that it would build a massive, 850,000-square-foot distribution center on New York’s Staten Island for $100 million. [WSJ] — Grace Guarnieri