As Amazon considers which city to build a second headquarters, several senior executives are putting forward Boston as their preference, according to a new Bloomberg report.
The company announced last week that it is accepting bids from cities to build its second headquarters, for which it plans to invest over $5 billion in construction and where it plans to employ as many as 50,000 people. Proposals are due Oct. 19.
In Bloomberg's report, which was based on anonymous source who was briefed on the discussions by Amazon executives, it stated that Boston is in the running because of its proximity to higher education institutions like Harvard, a lower cost of living compared to other cities and an airport that serves nonstop flights to Seattle and Washington.
In a statement, Amazon denied the Bloomberg report.
"The Bloomberg report is incorrect — there are no front-runners as this point," Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener told Boston Business Journal. "We are just getting started with the process, and every city is on an equal playing field.”
The City of Boston has already started preparing a pitch and assessing potential sites for Amazon's proposed headquarters. Amazon already has a considerable presence in Massachusetts, where it acquired the North Reading-based startup that would become Amazon Robotics. The company, which also has a sizable workforce in Cambridge, recently announced plans to open a new office in Boston's Seaport that will support 900 new jobs.
In an analysis by The New York Times, Boston was considered a top potential choice because of its transportation infrastructure, high quality of life, strong labor pool and high job growth. However, Boston ultimately lost out to Denver because "it's hard to imagine where the Boston region would find room for a company that will ultimately want up to eight million square feet of office space," the newspaper concluded.
While several Amazon executives favor Boston, the source told Bloomberg that the Hub could lose out if other cities present more favorable conditions for the project.
