SEATTLE–Amazon has revealed the 20 cities or areas that have made its first cut in its site selection process for a second headquarters. The cities, which were culled from a list of 238 proposals, range all over the US but are focused mainly in the eastern and southern US states. The choices include some expected locales — Atlanta for example — and some that were not on many people's short lists, such as Pittsburgh. Canada, too, is in the running with Toronto among the 20 finalists.

The list also includes large cities (not surprisingly given the population requirements Amazon set forth) such as Washington DC and New York City. Not only is the nation's Capital under consideration but so are its suburbs of Montgomery County and Northern Virginia. Perhaps most notable is that Amazon does not appear set on having its second headquarters close to its stronghold of Seattle. About the only western city on the list is Los Angeles.

The race to compete was intense given the economic stakes. Amazon plans to invest over $5 billion in its new headquarters, which is expected to accommodate as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs. Construction and the ongoing operation of the headquarters is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the surrounding community.

“Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough — all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity,” said Holly Sullivan, Amazon Public Policy in a prepared statement. “Through this process we learned about many new communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation.”

In the coming months, Amazon will work with each of the candidate locations to dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information, and evaluate how the area will be able to accommodate the company's hiring plans. Amazon expects to make a decision this year.

Here is the list of the 20 cities:

  • Atlanta, GA
  • Austin, TX
  • Boston, MA
  • Chicago, IL
  • Columbus, OH
  • Dallas, TX
  • Denver, CO
  • Indianapolis, IN
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Miami, FL
  • Montgomery County, MD
  • Nashville, TN
  • Newark, NJ
  • New York City, NY
  • Northern Virginia, VA
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Pittsburgh, PA
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Toronto, ON
  • Washington D.C.

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Erika Morphy

Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.