Updated 2:26 p.m. Monday
Portland may want Amazon's second headquarters but it didn't offer the city on a silver platter.
The city's agency in charge of development offered no special tax incentives or outlandish promises after the announcement that Amazon would choose a site with 8 million square feet of space for the retail giant.
Instead, a public-private proposal submitted last month is considerably measured, according to documents obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive after a public records request. The documents provide the first public glimpse of Portland's place inside the heated competition among hundreds of cities to win Amazon's favor.
The second headquarters would be not just a public relations plum for a city, but also would bring as many as 50,000 jobs with it. Portland has not been considered a front runner.
The city agency known as Prosper Portland cobbled together a proposed headquarters site that ranges across several blocks downtown to achieve Amazon's required size. Some of the site sits in a tax-advantaged enterprise zone, which means the city would temporarily lose out on property tax income.
This rendering, from a draft proposal, illustrates Portland's plan for Amazon's second headquarters. Union Station and the Fremont Bridge are visible on the right. The city also said it would accelerate work on infrastructure and housing, but only if Amazon contributed.
"We're not gonna play in the incentive game, nor should we, so let's make what we have for options and our value proposition stand out," wrote Matt Miller in a September email to Prosper employees.
Miller heads up business development for Greater Portland Inc., which wrangled proposals from four area economic development agencies – Portland, Beaverton, Clark County and Milwaukie – and submitted them to Amazon as one document on Oct. 19.
On Sept. 7, Amazon announced that it had outgrown its Seattle space and needed a second company headquarters. The retailer said it plans to invest $5 billion in construction alone for the new site.
The announcement sent city officials throughout North America scrambling to craft a proposal sufficient to lure an investment by the retail and tech giant.
By its Oct. 19 deadline, the company received 238 proposals from cities throughout North America. Some offered to build a bullet train or a Hyperloop (Elon Musk's superfast tube transportation system), while others offered as much as $7 billion in tax incentives. One Georgia city said it would change its name to Amazon should the company locate there.
Portland took a more subdued approach, perhaps because the city, so close to Seattle, may not have much of a chance. But Jared Wiener, Prosper's software industry liaison, tried to use the proximity to the city's advantage.
"The fact is we're close to Seattle and we can't change it," he wrote in an email. "(In my opinion) we should own this and position as a plus – the closest top 25 US Metro to current HQ while being a distinct labor market."
A draft of the city's proposal highlights the ease of travel from Seattle to Portland.
"The urban location is easily accessible to the Seattle headquarters by train, plane, or a drive of just three hours," it says. "The train departs from Union Station, where two floors of office included in this proposal allow Amazon employees to walk downstairs and into a train departing regularly for King Street Station. Light rail travels to PDX, which currently offers more than 50 direct flights daily to Seattle."
The proposed site for Amazon's campus would cover roughly a mile, from the Broadway Bridge to the Morrison Bridge. The blocks include the U.S. Post Office on Hoyt Street and sites next to Union Station, nearly all owned by the city.
This map, from a draft proposal, shows the sites Portland has selected for Amazon's second headquarters, should it decide to locate here. The blocks are marked in yellow. The plan also includes a handful of parking lots south of Burnside. These lots, owned by the Goodman family's Downtown Development Group, are part of the developer's Ankeny Blocks proposal, slated for development into office, residential and retail space over the next decade.
In a Monday interview, company co-president Greg Goodman said he was grateful the city included his blocks in the proposal, but was disappointed the city didn't work with the state and other jurisdictions to offer Amazon more in the way of tax breaks.
"This is a once in a multi-generation opportunity," he said. "You've got to put your best foot forward."
The 50,000 jobs Amazon promised to bring to its second headquarters would be a considerable boon to state coffers in the form of income taxes. If it were up to him, Goodman said, he would have offered the company tax breaks equal to the amount it would add the first few years.
The state wouldn't really be giving anything away, he said, because it wouldn't get any of that long-term income without Amazon.
As for the influx of employees putting strain on the city, Goodman said 50,000 people over 10 years isn't a huge amount, considering how many people have moved here in recent years. According to U.S. Census estimates, 2016 alone saw a net migration of 29,000 people to the Portland area.
Together, the sites Portland offered Amazon – Prosper is calling the swath the "Broadway Corridor" – could potentially offer just over 10 million square feet of space, well over Amazon's required 8 million square feet. Of the 13 sites, six of them are located in the city's Enterprise Zone, which offers a five-year property tax waiver.
"Portland has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to make the site and surrounding area attractive to businesses," the proposal said. "It will devote additional resources to develop a site that includes open space, streets and needed infrastructure."
This rendering shows the northernmost part of the proposed Amazon campus, at the site of the U.S. Post Office near the western head of the Broadway Bridge. In the draft proposal, the city insists it wouldn't just hand the blocks to Amazon. It would require the company to consider needs of community members during the development process, and ensure that the process is racially equitable.
The proposal also acknowledged that the addition of 50,000 Amazon employees would take a toll on the city. If Amazon were to site its second headquarters in Portland, the company would need to offer living-wage jobs and career pathways for workers at all skill levels, it said.
Meanwhile, Portland, with Amazon's help, would fast-track several initiatives:
- Building more affordable and middle-income housing
- Completing the Green Loop, a linear park that would span 6 miles and link Portland's inner neighborhoods via the Broadway Bridge and the Tilikum Crossing
- Building the Gateway Education Center, a 3-acre East Portland facility to support Parkrose and David Douglas school districts, Mount Hood Community College and Portland State University
- Adding more light rail and streetcar tracks
- Building a high-speed rail line between Portland and Seattle
Early drafts of Portland's proposal show the city's strategy for attracting Amazon.
"Welcome, we want you, we have what you want/need, and we've done this (without a) major tech anchor so you can be the big fish," one document read.
In other words, Portland doesn't have any large tech company headquarters, but it would like one. And Amazon could be the tallest tree in the Silicon Forest.
But should Amazon go elsewhere, the company has prompted Portland to take a hard look at how it wants to grow.
Wiener, Prosper's software industry liaison, addressed this in a September 27 email to some in Portland's tech industry.
"The good news is Portland will grow significantly during this time regardless of whether the second HQ is located here," he wrote, "and as a community we are well-stocked with plans we've already begun implementing to best manage this growth.
"So, in addition to directly pursuing the recruitment this presents a fantastic opportunity to think beyond the traditional confines on how to address the growth that is coming. And, if Amazon ultimately does locate in Portland then we will be better positioned to address the issues (positive & negative) that come with it."
-- Anna Marum
amarum@oregonian.com
503-294-5911
@annamarum