(Cleveland) – Amazon’s second headquarters, if it were to have been in Cleveland, would have been in the heart of downtown.
No details of Cleveland’s failed bid to land the giant online retailer’s “HQ2” were released by city or county officials until Thursday, when the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) begrudgingly released to Cleveland.com the portion of the bid related to the proposed location for HQ2. NOACA released that information rather than continue a court fight funded by taxpayers.
The proposed location would have been in the Terminal Tower and the adjacent Post Office Plaza, both of which are owned by property developer The K&D Group.
Tax incentives offered to Amazon were not released. All those involved in the preparation of Cleveland’s bid for HQ2 say that information was “proprietary.”
An offer to expand RTA’s Rapid system was also part of the city’s failed bid for Amazon’s headquarters.
Amazon hasn’t completely abandoned Cleveland, as the retailer has distribution centers under construction in North Randall and Euclid, on the sites of former shopping malls. HQ2 would have brought as many as 50,000 good-paying corporate jobs to the region.
Columbus and Pittsburgh are on Amazon’s list of cities still being considered for HQ2.