Amazon's $5 billion headquarters battle has neighborhoods across New York all fired up

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Amazon's $5 billion headquarters battle has neighborhoods across New York all fired up

Manhattan West from the High Line

Brookfield

A rendering of the Manhattan West development.

New York is making a real play for Amazon.

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The city's Economic Development Corporation said on Wednesday that it had received proposals from 23 different neighborhoods who are eager to host Amazon.

"No other city in North America has the space, the ingenuity, or the energy that we can offer Amazon," Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen said in a statement.

On Septemer 15, NYC's EDC solicited submissions for places around the city where Amazon could call home. It will now go through the submissions and choose one to send to Amazon when bids are due on October 19.

One of the contenders is likely the Industry City complex in Brooklyn, which is set to expand its space with its sights set on Amazon, the development's CEO, Andrew Kimball, told The Real Deal.

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Amazon is currently searching for the site of its second headquarters, which the company has promised will be as big as its current home in Seattle. Amazon said it would invest $5 billion in the construction of its new headquarters, and it hopes to eventually house 50,000 staff members there.

Nearly every city in the US and Canada that qualifies has said it has made or is considering making a bid. New York officials have said that in lieu of offering financial incentives, they plan to leverage the city's desirability in a push to appeal to Amazon.

The ecommerce giant also just announced plans to open a new office in the Manhattan West megadevelopment. The company is leasing 360,000 square feet there, with space for its advertising, Amazon Fashion, and Amazon Web Services teams.

The company also recently announced it would build its first fulfillment center in the city, in Staten Island, where it would hire 2,250 employees.