Earlier this month, the city of Somerville submitted a proposal to host Amazon�s second North American headquarters, joining their Seattle-based campus. Somerville�s bid proposes mixed-use buildings stretching across Orange, Green and Silver line stops, including multiple cities and towns: Somerville, Cambridge, Boston, Everett and Chelsea.



�We invite Amazon not just to set up shop here, but to become a community and regional partner committed to advancing these goals with determination and creativity,� wrote Mayor Joseph Curtatone. �In Somerville, we like to say that while others have innovation districts, we are the Innovation City.�



The project is worth $5 billion in construction and Amazon representatives say it will bring an estimated 50,000 jobs to the area. In total, 50 cities in North America submitted bids. The City of Boston proposed a location in Suffolk Downs in East Boston.



The proposal



The total campus would be 13.2 million square feet, with room to expand an additional 3.8 million square feet across different sites.



Proposed sites include: Assembly Square (Somerville), North Station (Boston), NorthPoint (Cambridge), Union Square and Boynton Yards (Somerville), Sullivan Square (Boston), Commercial Triangle (Everett), and Everett Avenue (Chelsea).

�This is a smart-growth, regional, multi-city proposal,� Curtatone wrote in the introduction. �It promotes a collection of mixed-use sites that would spark not just office development, but also affordable and market-rate housing, retail and R&D, directly adjacent to existing and coming MBTA [lines].�



Some sites are highly redeveloped, such as Assembly Square, while others are up and coming, including Everett Avenue and Union Square. The city sites a number of draws for each area, including multi-modal transportation and mixed-use spaces.



According to the proposal, sites are �pre-permitted and shovel-ready,� meaning once Amazon accepts the bid and the city approves the details, they can get to work.



�It�s a regional opportunity to have a strong presence in Massachusetts by creating an ecosystem around Amazon�s values of connectivity and modularity,� wrote Curtatone. �[Amazon can] tap into the phenomenal wealth of ideas, talent and diversity concentrated in the Greater Boston area.



Incentives for Amazon



The proposal invites Amazon to be a �long-term partner� in the area.



With the �brain power triangle� between Harvard University, Tufts University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), staffers argue Greater Boston is the preferred area for this development.



With the extension of the Green Line and the newest Orange Line stop in Assembly Row, it�ll be easy for Amazon�s employees to both live and work in the area. And, states the proposal, with the �vibrant arts scene,� dozens of festivals, and a strong education system, there is always something for people to enjoy.



�We know that we�re onto something great here,� reads the proposal. �We�re confident that Amazon will want to take a serious look at investing in our dynamic community.�



For more information, visit https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/ospcd-economic-development/amazon-t-tapping-vitality-greater-boston to read the full proposal.