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Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#161

Post by MrMorden »

atonse wrote: post #107
eli wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People keep saying this and I really don't follow. Why does the DoD care where the headquarters of the parent company of their contractor is located? Are they gonna pop in and ask questions about the Amazon retail site? Sure AWS needs a sales office in the region. And a datacenter. And a lobbying shop too. Pretty sure they got all that covered already.

A lot of it is relationships. A lot of it is the kind of workforce you'll get (people already experience with DoD stuff and have the right clearances but don't want to move out of the DC/MD/VA area), and such things.

Amazon's big draw for someone currently doing cleared work is being able to ditch the clearance without taking a pay cut or moving. The people who want to work for Amazon and keep the clearance have already made that move.

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#162

Post by CPLX »

rayiner wrote: post #140
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #3

Been looking to buy a house in the Northern Virginia area for about five years now, but the prices have climbed almost linearly, and never slowed down. If Amazon does settle here, I'll probably continue renting until I can GTFO. Microsoft also bought a large plot of land around Loudon county, on which they plan to build a campus. If this area is to become the next Seattle, I have no interest in being here.

Northern VA sucks. Come east to MD its a million times better.

Well that’s the first time I’ve ever heard someone describe going from VA to Maryland as going east.

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#163

Post by MrMorden »

itronitron wrote: post #117
Yhippa wrote: post #58

This is clearly a DoD play. The federal government as a whole is thirsty for cloud services and having a services provider like Amazon literally at their doorstep is going to win them a lot of work. If they do bring good experts to government work instead of what the typical government contractors in the area provide this will be a good thing for taxpayers.

This would effectively double the cost to DoD of any awarded cloud service contract to Amazon. In the form of higher cost of living for federal employees.

The current locality rate for the DC-ish area (which actually goes halfway to Wilmington and Richmond) is 28.22%; thus, a GS-12-05 salary is $72k in a low-cost-of-living area and $92k in DC. The Federal Salary Council's recommended locality rate is 78.81%, bringing that notional GS-12 to $128k. So there is already somewhat of a disconnect between federal salaries and cost of living.

That aside, it's easy enough for the government to fix the housing problem. They're just too invested in keeping prices high to want that.

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#164

Post by reaperducer »

eli wrote: post #91
Yhippa wrote: post #58

This is clearly a DoD play. The federal government as a whole is thirsty for cloud services and having a services provider like Amazon literally at their doorstep is going to win them a lot of work. If they do bring good experts to government work instead of what the typical government contractors in the area provide this will be a good thing for taxpayers.

People keep saying this and I really don't follow. Why does the DoD care where the headquarters of the parent company of their contractor is located? Are they gonna pop in and ask questions about the Amazon retail site? Sure AWS needs a sales office in the region. And a datacenter. And a lobbying shop too. Pretty sure they got all that covered already.

Why does the DoD care where the headquarters of the parent company of their contractor is located?

Don't underestimate the power of the face-to-face meeting.

There's a reason that videoconferencing didn't kill the business class airfare.

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#165

Post by reaperducer »

plaidfuji wrote: post #53
totablebanjo wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, Crystal City is pretty soulless, but a bunch of AMZN cash will make that millenial ready in no time. Also, some nyt writer that’d never been there called it the Brooklyn of DC which was hilarious.

Lol @ the notion that Amazon cash will give a city “soul”

Lol @ the notion that Amazon cash will give a city “soul”

When I lived in Seattle, South Lake Union was pretty much a wasteland. Now Amazon is there and I hear it's a millennial/tech paradise.

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#166

Post by reaperducer »

CPLX wrote: post #152
mortenjorck wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the poster above meant to be a little facetious. I tend to read “millennial ready” as building out a supply of tiny, $2000/mo studios with loads of flashy amenities and terrible quality construction.

Yes plus restaurants with life affirming phrases written in script on small signs and strings of Edison bulbs.

I'm going to invest my money in a company that ships avocados and beard conditioner in bulk to Crystal City.

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#167

Post by nashashmi »

eli wrote: post #91
Yhippa wrote: post #58

This is clearly a DoD play. The federal government as a whole is thirsty for cloud services and having a services provider like Amazon literally at their doorstep is going to win them a lot of work. If they do bring good experts to government work instead of what the typical government contractors in the area provide this will be a good thing for taxpayers.

People keep saying this and I really don't follow. Why does the DoD care where the headquarters of the parent company of their contractor is located? Are they gonna pop in and ask questions about the Amazon retail site? Sure AWS needs a sales office in the region. And a datacenter. And a lobbying shop too. Pretty sure they got all that covered already.

A large portion of the North Virginia area commercial sector relies heavily on the services and manufacturing requested by the federal government.

Do not underestimate the power of locality. It is a big factor in marketing. Having face time with clients is the chief reason you win jobs.

for that reason a lot of the federal contractors are baked in and grown from Northern Virginia.

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#168

Post by reaperducer »

synaesthesisx wrote: post #156
snowwrestler wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DCA also has a "perimeter rule" in place, which forbids flights between DCA and airports more than 1,250 miles away, unless a specific exception is made. http://www.flyreagan.com/dca/dca-reagan-national-slot-perime...

What the purpose of a perimeter rule? Just curious...

Originally, it was to put regional routes in the regional airport, and long-distance routes in the long-distance airport. (As told to me by an urban studies professor I picked up at Dulles when I was a chauffeur in college.)

Similar to how in New York, LaGuardia was supposed to be for domestic flights, Kennedy for international flights, and Newark for freight. But that didn't fully work out. (Same source.)

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#169

Post by mygo »

eli wrote: post #91
Yhippa wrote: post #58

This is clearly a DoD play. The federal government as a whole is thirsty for cloud services and having a services provider like Amazon literally at their doorstep is going to win them a lot of work. If they do bring good experts to government work instead of what the typical government contractors in the area provide this will be a good thing for taxpayers.

People keep saying this and I really don't follow. Why does the DoD care where the headquarters of the parent company of their contractor is located? Are they gonna pop in and ask questions about the Amazon retail site? Sure AWS needs a sales office in the region. And a datacenter. And a lobbying shop too. Pretty sure they got all that covered already.

> Why does the DoD care where the headquarters of the parent company of their contractor is located? Are they gonna pop in and ask questions about the Amazon retail site?

Don't underestimate how much of a difference-maker face-to-face is.

I've called and emailed people and the one thing that actually got things moving was just going to their dang office and seeing them in person. I don't think it matters how good the technology gets and how many VR-facetime conference call services develop, there's always going to be something irreplaceable about meeting in person. If there's not much of a significant difference on paper between you and the competition, it really does put you ahead of the competition if those meetings go well and the competition isn't doing it. Same for hosting dinners, etc.

Re: Amazon HQ2: Advanced talks about second headquarters in Northern Virginia

#170

Post by reaperducer »

monocasa wrote: post #153
tinyhouse wrote: post #28

> "The company may be having similar discussions with other finalists." The article sounds very speculative. I don't know anything about this place, but if it's expensive like people here say it is, then I don't see the point of Amazon moving there. I think a place like downtown Chicago would make more sense. (if only the winter was not as cold and better public schools...)

Denver still makes the most sense to me. Single hop to Beijing & Shanghai, real estate and wages aren't at DC, Seattle, Bay Area rates quite. Lots of amenities (open space, good beer, close to skiing) that Amazon doesn't actually have to pay for. Decent tech scene (Google, Facebook, Uber campuses, as well as an ever growing Amazon dev presence). Large downtown property looking for a buyer and is probably underrated (…

Denver still makes the most sense to me. Single hop to Beijing & Shanghai

Why would Amazon need a single (longer) hop to Asia, when it can already get there from Seattle?

Going to DC/VA gives it better access to EMEA.

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