A cluster of Central Orange County cities plan to throw their hats in the ring to get e-commerce giant Amazon’s second headquarters.
A joint bid under the banner of Orange County Silicon Cities, or OCSC, is on tap for this week and is expected to be endorsed by the cities of Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Orange.
Anaheim is also being solicited to back the bid, although its position hadn’t been confirmed by the time the Business Journal went to press.
An Anaheim city official told the Business Journal that the city endorses Amazon coming to Orange County, “whatever city that may be.”
RFPs are due on Oct. 19 for the second base of operations for the Seattle-based firm that could potentially bring 50,000 jobs to a new region over a decade or more.
Figuring out the likely HQ2 spot for the company, whose market value is nearly $480 billion, has become one of the biggest guessing games in the business world since Amazon announced its audacious plan last month.
At least 50 bids, and perhaps more than 100, are expected from across North America from a variety of cities, counties and municipalities, according to national news reports.
The city of Irvine has already announced its intentions to file a bid that would be backed in part by Newport Beach-based Irvine Co. Amazon already employs more than 900 in Irvine, primarily in the Spectrum area.
Amazon estimates the HQ2 project would cost more than $5 billion to build over 15 years and that the jobs it would bring to its chosen area—largely office positions, not warehouse jobs—would pay average salaries topping $100,000.
The company is initially looking for 500,000 to 1 million square feet of office space by 2019, according to its RFP.
Future growth stages would likely be in the 1-million-square-foot range per phase, and could ultimately reach nearly 8 million square feet, according to Amazon.
Harrah Sites
Santa Ana developer Mike Harrah, who’s leading much of the push for the OCSC project, said the multicity bid would “meet and exceed every line item” of Amazon’s RFP.
Under plans shown to the Business Journal last week, the OCSC project could offer more than 10 million square feet of office, retail, hospitality and other space designed to meet Amazon’s needs.
The buildings and other aspects of the bid would largely be linked by a new $400 million light rail system designed to connect much of downtown Santa Ana with Garden Grove. Construction is scheduled to start next year.
The light rail and other public transportation options that connect entertainment, housing and educational hubs of Orange, Garden Grove and Anaheim to Santa Ana, make the project “automobile optional,” Harrah said.
His planned 37-story One Broadway tower in Santa Ana, which would be OC’s tallest building, is part of the bid. It’s scheduled to be completed in about two and half years and could be used entirely by Amazon, he said.
In addition, his 625ive development site, the former headquarters and printing plant operations of the Orange County Register near the intersection of the Santa Ana (5) Freeway and Grand Avenue, could immediately offer Amazon another 600,000 square feet of office space.
The 20-acre 625ive site also has plenty of room for future construction, including residential development. Entitlements for future work there should be completed in about a year, Harrah said.
Willowick
The biggest part of the OCSC bid by acreage would be the Willowick Golf Course site, a 102-acre site next to the Santa Ana River. It’s owned by the city of Garden Grove but located in Santa Ana.
Under plans designed by architecture firm Gensler, the site would be redeveloped to hold more than 2 million square feet of midrise office space for Amazon, plus 3,000 residential units, retail space and a hotel, among other uses.
A portion of the land would remain a golf course, and other golf-related entertainment could be built there, according to Harrah’s plans.
A light-rail stop in the center of the site would connect it with both the One Broadway and 625ive locations.
Harrah said his Caribou Industries would aim to be the contractor for the site but not owner.
The cities of Garden Grove and Santa Ana late last month signed off on a memorandum of understanding expected to lead to joint meetings over the golf course’s fate.
In addition to the project’s urban center and proximity to public transportation, OCSC backers say they believe they can offer financial incentives to differentiate their bid from Irvine’s and other cities’ responses to the RFP.
The RFP noted Amazon’s “preference for a business-friendly environment.” It also urged “communities to think big and creatively.” Creativity—credits and tax breaks—in California is controlled by the state’s office of business and economic development. Gov. Jerry Brown created Go-BIZ as the successor to local redevelopment agencies.
Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Garden Grove Mayor Steve Jones spent part of last week in Sacramento. Pulido told the Business Journal that Go-BIZ is “putting together a stimulus package on behalf of the state.”
With Santa Ana falling under the state’s designated geographic area classification, upwards of $500 million in incentives through a variety of tax credits, grants and other financing programs could be presented to Amazon, according to OCSC documents shown to the Business Journal.
“We have a good story to tell,” Pulido said of the central-county cities’ bid.
