It's not just Newark, New Jersey is still very interested in Amazon

After Amazon's breakup with New York City on Valentine's Day, leaders across New Jersey have been steadfast in their efforts to remind the retail giant that it is still wanted in the Garden State — even if Amazon is saying it's not interested.

For days, officials have taken to various outlets to make the case for New Jersey after the Thursday split. By Friday, Gov. Phil Murphy appeared on Bloomberg to talk about Amazon. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka on Sunday penned an op-ed in The Washington Post, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, Amazon's chief executive. By Tuesday, Aisha Glover, president and chief executive of Newark Alliance, appeared on Cheddar. 

Amazon stunned the country last week when it abruptly canceled its plans to build a second headquarters in New York City, citing heightened tensions from a local backlash. The retailer had plans for a second headquarters split between Northern Virginia and New York — each campus would be home to 25,000 employees.

The company said in a statement that it would proceed with its plans for Virginia, and proceed with plans for a smaller-scaled expansion in Tennessee. It also said that, at this time, it would not be reopening the bidding process for a replacement HQ2 city.

City leaders, like Glover in Newark, still expect the 25,000 employees that were planned for New York City to land elsewhere.

"I don’t believe that either location has the capacity to handle the 25,000 that were going to New York City," Glover said, referring to Virginia and Tennessee. "So, I think that ultimately those jobs will end up in another city. In Newark, there’s room for this kind of growth."

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Amazon already has a significant presence in Newark with Audible's headquarters. To that end, the company is rapidly expanding its footprint along Washington Park

Audible has been working to expand its offices into a former cathedral in downtown Newark near the Rutgers business school, Glover said. Once it opens in May, she estimated that Audible will be adding 400 jobs to the city's workforce.

During a year-long bidding process, Newark finished as a top contender in the Garden State. Paterson, Secaucus and Camden also submitted bids. Amazon announced Newark as a top 20 finalist after it reviewed more than 100 applications from cities nationwide.

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When signs of turbulence in New York City began weeks ago, Newark and state officials reignited communication with Amazon, Glover said. The hope was to remind both Amazon and New York City that Newark was still a viable option, and the city was willing to work as a partner to keep the thousands of planned jobs in the region.

Even though plans have changed, Newark leaders still have hope.

"Do we think that there is still viability of them still coming to Newark? Absolutely," Glover said. "We are smack dead in the middle of the country’s largest and most diverse talent pool, and everybody has kind of agreed that the whole Amazon HQ2 play was a talent play, anyway."

At times, the push from Newark has been subtle — through comments made by officials in newscasts, in statements, or behind-the-scenes phone calls. Other times, the city's gestures became viral. Newark Alliance last week sent a Valentine's Day card to Amazon, which was sent before the company announced its plans to abandon New York. 

"It was just a playful gesture, and it was kind of ironic that it arrived right before or close to the time that they release their decision," Glover said.

Some of Newark's most famous natives have also taken to social media to woo the tech giant to Brick City. In one post on Twitter, Shaquille O'Neal, the NBA star and a Newark native, said he would be welcome Amazon.

Gov. Phil Murphy has referred to Amazon's proposal as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He doubled down on his belief that Newark is still a viable option for a sizable corporate expansion — be it by Amazon or another company — at a press conference on Friday in Paterson, where he announced the creation of a historic preservation tax credit program. Murphy has also repeated those claims in numerous interviews and statements over the past week, even before Amazon pulled the plug on New York City.

"If a company like Amazon wants to be in an urban community that is on the rise, I hope they’re looking at Newark," Murphy said. "I hope they’re looking at Paterson, and communities like that in our state."

In 2017, officials in Paterson also pitched the city as a possible home for Amazon's HQ2. The city, in conjunction with Passaic County, tossed its hat in the ring with a 46-page application.

At the time, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. said Amazon's proposal could be transformative for Paterson. He reiterated that sentiment on Friday, at the same press conference where Murphy announced the new tax program.

"I’m sure that the folks who were against [Amazon] had good intentions, but when I studied the $3 million in public money that was going to be invested – it generates over $25 billion," Pascrell said on Friday. "You’re not only talking about 25,000 employees. ... You’re talking about all these folks who will be able to earn more money as well in their businesses."

Even with so much promised growth, not everyone is convinced that Amazon would be welcomed to New Jersey so easily.

In New York City, locals have been split down the middle. Some, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have celebrated Amazon's exit from New York. Meanwhile, some New Yorkers see the departure as a lost opportunity that could have served as a economic boon in Long Island City in Queens.

Some experts, like Rebecca Kolins Givan, an associate professor in the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, believe that many of the tensions seen in New York City in recent weeks could be mirrored in New Jersey.

"While there are cities, especially in the Greater New York area, that would draw from the same labor market or talent that Amazon might have been looking to hire [in New York City], the same concerns would be there," Givan said. "What are the public transportation implications? Is it appropriate to put in a helipad while everyday, working people are struggling to get to work because the transit system is underfunded? I think all those questions will arise whether it’s New York or New Jersey."

The collapse of New York City's proposal was the result of two major factors, Givan explained. First, there's the anti-union sentiment that clouds Amazon and clashes with New York City, which she described as the largest unionized city in the country. Second, she said, was the beauty pageant-style bidding process that excluded community input from the process. To prevent a similar scenario in another city, transparency is key, she said. 

"The transparency question is paramount. A lot of communities will push back if their city leaders continue to make deals that they don’t open up to the public, where they don’t allow any community input and where the bids are covered with non-disclosure agreements," Givan said. "I think we’re going to see a change in the whole tone of these kinds of development projects and location searches."

In New Jersey, state leaders are in the midst of their own political battle over the future of corporate tax breaks, including the very kind of incentives that the state included in its pitch to Amazon last year. Some wonder if the uncertainty and discourse could hinder Amazon from one day expanding further into the Garden State.

Glover, Newark Alliance's president and chief executive, said it would be naive to expect zero push-back from locals — no matter where an Amazon would expand.

"I think the difference in Newark and New Jersey is that we were pretty open with the process. We held community meetings. We solicited feedback. The local and state officials were engaged from very early on in the process," Glover said. "No matter what city they end up in, there will be some level of push-back. I don’t think it would be at the scale, or anywhere near the scale, that it was in New York City."

In other communities, like one town in northern Bergen County, elected officials are practicing transparency from the get-go. Even if their hopes of landing Amazon in their neighborhood are a long shot.

Mike Ghassali, the mayor of Montvale, released a statement to residents on Sunday informing them that he reached out to Amazon with hopes of attracting the company at a smaller scale to the borough. Ghassali said this was the first time he contacted the company in his capacity as mayor.

"I told them that we’re business friendly. We want them to come in. We want them to prosper. We want them to create jobs. It was a welcoming message to them," Ghassali said on Wednesday. "I’m just not sure how their strategy is relative to smaller spaces. We tried. I offered to give them a tour, but I’m not sure where it stands right now."

Having Amazon come into Montvale, Ghassali said, would help with job creation, increasing sales for small mom-and-pop businesses and restaurants in town, and also with stabilizing taxes.

In 2015, Montvale suffered devastating blows when major corporations retreated from the area. The borough once prospered when workers descended there for the once-popular suburban office parks. Properties once occupied by the likes of A&P, Sony and Mercedes-Benz are currently being redeveloped for mixed-use projects, Ghassali said, signaling an upward shift in the community.

Although Montvale can't offer the urban campus that Amazon wanted for its second headquarters, the borough could provide Amazon with real estate big enough for a satellite office, Ghassali said. He estimated, if property owners with office vacancies worked together, the borough could accommodate a couple of thousand square feet for Amazon.

Ghassali said he believed he was just one of many mayors reaching out to Amazon over the past several days. Even if Amazon overlooks Montvale, he welcomed their entry into the state overall. 

"We like the businesses to come to the state and the region, just to help with the tax base," Ghassali said. "In Montvale, a quarter of our tax base is paid off by the corporations. Without them, the residents, we would have to pay more."

Larger cities, like Newark, have significant tracts of land to offer Amazon.

In Newark, there are about 20 million-square-feet of land available for Amazon to develop, Glover said. The city has about $4.5 billion worth of developments currently underway, she said. A majority of the changes will be realized in the city's downtown, where officials are hoping to see an uptick in residential development.

"Within three to five years, we’re definitely going to see a lot more activity downtown," Glover said. "A lot more people living downtown, a lot more amenities and restaurants and destination locations."

In his op-ed in The Washington Post, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka described Newark as a city in the midst of an early revitalization. Not only would Newark benefit from Amazon expanding in the city, but he also described how Amazon could be transformed by Newark because investing in the the city would be a socially conscious choice.

"When I reflect back on the process of preparing our proposal for Amazon's second headquarters as mayor of Newark, it is evident that I am at the helm of something unique," Baraka wrote in the op-ed. "This is a city of collaborators who not only believe in the potential of our city but also recognize the critical role they play in helping us get there."

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