Amazon expands NYC-based operations

Dive Brief:

Governor Andrew Cuomo and Amazon announced on Thursday that Amazon will expand its New York City-based operations with a new 359,000 square-foot administrative office at the new Hudson Yards development on the city’s West Side, according to a press release from the governor's office. Amazon has settled on Brookfield’s 5 Manhattan West, where the company has secured more than 360,000 square feet of state-of-the-art working space, Amazon said in a press release emailed to Retail Dive.
The state helped seal the deal with up to $20 million in performance-based taxed credits through its Empire State Development's Excelsior Jobs Program, according to the governor’s press release. Amazon has agreed to invest $55 million to outfit the 359,000 square-foot office space at the 5 Manhattan West address in Hudson Yards using energy-efficient standards. The expansion will create 2,000 new jobs in finance, sales, marketing, and information technology that will earn an average of $100,000 annually. Amazon will also retain more than 1,800 jobs in New York State.
Earlier this month, Amazon announced its first fulfillment center in the area, an 855,000-square-foot fulfillment center on Staten Island, which will garner the area up to $18 million in the agency’s performance-based tax credits. In that deal, the state and Amazon announced 2,250 new jobs at the facility, plus another 886 jobs, with opportunities for employees to engage with advanced robotics, according to a press release.

Dive Insight:

New York state and municipal officials cheered the news and the mayor’s office Friday morning told WNYC that Amazon would also do well to consider the city for its second headquarters. The e-commerce giant earlier this month announced its search to expand its corporate presence with a new base in North America expected to be a "full equal" to the company’s existing Seattle headquarters.

An Amazon spokesperson clarified to Retail Dive that Thursday's announcement regarding its plans for Hudson Yards and Amazon HQ2 are two different projects. "Our new office in NYC is part of our ongoing job creation efforts in New York and will not influence the selection process for our second headquarters in North America," the spokesperson said in an email. Cities big, medium and even small across the U.S. have been falling over themselves to tout their advantages in "pick me, pick me" pitches, but any city seriously contemplating it are working on the request for proposal that Amazon has sent them.

The e-commerce giant already has a major presence in New York, running two bookstores in Manhattan, several Whole Foods stores, a fashion photo studio in Brooklyn and, for the last two years, some corporate offices across from the Empire State Building.

"We're excited to expand our presence in New York — we have always found great talent here," Paul Kotas, Amazon's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Advertising, said in a statement. "Last January we announced our plans to create 100,000 full-time, full-benefit jobs in the U.S. by mid-2018 — and we are on track to reach that goal."

Full-time positions include IT, finance, design and marketing professionals to support a wide range of businesses, including Amazon Web Services, Amazon Fashion and Amazon Advertising, Amazon said in a press release emailed to Retail Dive. New York City is a logical choice for its apparel design teams, considering its position as one of the world's major fashion centers.

"I am thrilled that today we are announcing that Amazon will expand its presence in New York City and add 2,000 new permanent high-paying jobs in finance, sales, marketing and information technology on Manhattan's west side, New York City's newest neighborhood for business, culture and residential,” Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) said in a statement. “I applaud Governor Cuomo and the Empire State Development, who have worked extremely hard to ensure that this deal becomes a reality. But it goes without saying that of course, Amazon, the largest internet-based retailer in the world, has to have a large presence in NYC, the financial and cultural capital of the world.”