Irvine has unveiled its proposal to bring Amazon’s second headquarters to the master planned community, specifically to Irvine Spectrum.

Its selling point? A partnership between the city and its master developer Irvine Company that would allow Amazon to move in quickly and avoid spending billions of dollars, officials say.

“With the Irvine Co. proposal, Amazon will not be required to invest capital for land acquisition, buildings, or entitlements to build your new business campus,” Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren wrote in a letter addressed to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, which was part of Irvine’s proposal package. “Our company has the long-term real estate assets, capital resources and flexibility to deliver all your required work space with lease durations of Amazon’s choosing.”

“In essence, you would have a one-click shopping opportunity,” the real estate mogul wrote in the proposal, announced Thursday, Oct. 19.

Bren and city officials have shown interest in submitting a proposal to Amazon since Sept. 7, the day the tech giant announced it will choose another base of operations in North America through a public process. Amazon’s headquarters is in downtown Seattle.

Big and smaller cities from across North America, including New York City, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago, are expected to submit their proposals by the Oct. 19 deadline. The Irvine proposal is one of three being submitted from Orange County. Others are from Santa Ana and Huntington Beach, which is partnering with Long Beach.

Amazon says it will hire as many as 50,000 new full-time employees with an average salary of more than $100,000 at the second headquarters over the next 10 to 15 years. The company plans to spend more than $5 billion toward developing the headquarters, which will expand to up to 8 million square feet over 15 to 17 years.

The company will announce the winner sometime next year.

Irvine Co. wants Amazon to lease at Spectrum

Dan Young, the Irvine Co.’s project executive and adviser to Bren, said the Irvine Spectrum district can easily accommodate Amazon’s growth in a downtown environment.

The Irvine Co., the largest landowner in Irvine, has 30 million square feet of office space planned at the Spectrum district, which is around the I-5 and I-405 freeway interchange and already houses about 2,500 businesses such as Blizzard and CoreLogic. The company recently opened the newer of the 20-story twin office towers at the district and is also constructing nearly 600,000 square feet of office space at its “Next Gen” projects.

Amazon can lease such existing and new buildings where necessary government approvals are in place, instead of spending $5 billion to buy land and build the campus on its own, Young said. That allows Amazon to move to different buildings, with various heights, sizes and features, as the needs change, he added.

“Here, because we are a master planned community and we thought 30, 40 years out, we’ve put all that infrastructure in place, we’ve put all those approvals in place,” Young said.

Amazon has stated the company is seeking a generous package of incentives to offset its investment.

While Irvine proposed no such incentives as a city, Gov. Jerry Brown said the state will offer tax breaks and other incentives worth hundreds of millions of dollars should Amazon choose California.

In addition to up to $300 million in tax credits and employee training funds, the governor’s office pledged to back legislation streamlining the environmental and development review processes as well as support acquiring a fleet of zero-emission shuttle buses to ferry employees around a future Amazon campus.

Irvine faces traffic, housing issues

One of the concerns for Irvine’s bid, at least for some residents, is traffic congestion.

City spokesman Craig Reem emphasized Irvine’s ongoing efforts to tackle the issue, which many residents say is the most pressing one. The city reinstated the Transportation Commission and hired a transportation manager this year and has committed to spending $116 million toward solving traffic congestion.

The Irvine Metrolink station is at the heart of Irvine Spectrum. There’s also a shuttle bus service, called iShuttle, that runs through Irvine Spectrum during peak commute hours.

Irvine also will benefit from a regional $11 billion, 10-year plan to improve transportation, Reem said.

Residents have complained about the lack of affordable homes, not just in Irvine but across California.

Irvine’s proposal states the city’s home prices are a discount compared to other expensive areas such as Washington, D.C., West Los Angeles, Silicon Valley and New York.

Amazon’s recruitment of 50,000 new employees could create a need for 33,000 new homes in Orange County, assuming they all move in from outside, the proposal states. That could be achieved as Irvine alone has 20,000 new units in the pipeline, according to the proposal.

“I also want our residents to know that we have the room and we have the capability to absorb over time the 50,000 employees that they (Amazon) intend to bring here,” Mayor Don Wagner said. “So they are going to be great neighbors. They are going to offer to enrich our lives and they are going to bring a talented workforce.”

Selling SoCal weather, lifestyle

Amazon has said it is looking for a metro area with at least a million people, a stable and business-friendly environment, a large pool of technical talent, access to mass transit and major highways with an international airport no more than 45 minutes away. Amazon’s request for proposals also seeks areas with recreational and educational opportunities, “an overall high quality of life” and amenities that appeal to young professionals.

The company would have access to Southern California’s more than 30,000 science, technology, engineering and math graduates per year and more than 400,000 such professionals already working in the region, according to Irvine’s proposal.

Irvine officials say the city’s climate, lifestyle, safe neighborhoods and highly ranked schools would help Amazon recruit and retain its employees.

“We have a sense that the beaches, the cultural activities, the enjoyment of the southern California lifestyle is going to be a greater attraction than somebody getting up in the snow in the winter and being able to go underground to a metro station to work,” Young said.

Most handicappers haven’t included Southern California or the West Coast in their list of most likely places to win Amazon’s approval, however.

A Bloomberg story published Thursday, Oct. 19, said the 10 cities with the best shot at becoming Amazon’s second home include Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Denver, New York City and Washington, D.C. Detroit and Pittsburgh made Bloomberg’s list as well.

Irvine is a dark horse, admits Bryan Starr, CEO of Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce. But he points out Amazon already has 1,200 employees in Irvine Spectrum.

“They are talking to the mother ship, too, and Amazon will not miss this proposal,” Starr said.

Staff writer Jeff Collins contributed to this report.