Amazon recently announced that they considered stationing their headquarters in East St. Louis. What could this mean for St. Louis? An article on the St Louis Post-Dispatch says “Amazon.com is scouting North America for a second headquarters with as many as 50,000 jobs, and St. Louis officials said they plan to make a strong bid to be in the running for the $5 billion construction project.”
In my opinion this plan is great for St. Louis and could be instrumental in saving the economy of, as well as providing jobs for many people in, the St Louis region. St. Louis Executive Steve Stenger had this to say about the proposal, “The new Amazon headquarters is the kind of opportunity that can transform a community” and he and many others like the mayor, Governor, and other important people are working hard to make this dream a reality.
Cities like St Louis have until Oct. 19 to apply for this opportunity, but only one will be chosen and let’s hope it’s St Louis.
While also supplying jobs to more than 50,000 people and growing the economy the bid could also attract the attention of other big name companies says Sheila Sweeney, CEO of the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, “We want Amazon to understand we have a variety of sites, not only for them” but potentially for other companies that might eventually come in conjunction with the e-commerce giant.
“Until 10 years ago, the neighborhood near Seattle’s campus just north of downtown was dotted with auto parts stores and low-rent apartments. Now the area is a booming pocket of high-rise office complexes, sleek apartment buildings and tony restaurants,” says the St Louis Public Radio.
According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch the bids that have been put forth “involve downtown St. Louis, the riverfront just north of downtown and the East St. Louis riverfront area.”
While this may all seem like gossip or an attempt to revive St Louis to it’s glory, the bids that St Louis put forth are being considered.
Amazon’s requirements for their ideal location according to St Louis public radio, “near a metropolitan area with more than a million people; be able to attract top technical talent; be within 45 minutes of an international airport; have direct access to mass transit; and wants to be able to expand that headquarters to as much as 8 million square feet in the next decade.”
St. Louis meets the standards of mass transit, which is public transportation, and highway and airport considerations according to A New York Times columnist on bnd.com.
