Amazon Exec Says HQ2 Won't Be In Seattle Or Anywhere In The Northwest

Wanted: Less rain. DAVID RYDER/GETTY

Seattle and every other city in the Northwest can give up on wooing Amazon to build its second headquarters here. It's not happening, Amazon Worldwide Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke said at a GeekWire Summit yesterday.

“Not everybody wants to live in the Northwest,” he said. “It’s been terrific for me and my family, but I think we may find another location allows us to recruit a different collection of employees.”

Wilke said it's not personal, but about “room and talent and diversity of environment for people." He later added, maybe so as not to hurt Seattle's feelings, “We love Seattle … It’s been a great home for us.”

Lots of cities in the northwest — or at least, the politicians and businesses there — will be left heartbroken.

Officials from King and Snohomish Counties have been courting Amazon since it announced it would build another headquarters, offering up everywhere from Arlington, Bellevue, Bothell, Everett, Kenmore, Renton, Lynnwood, Tukwila, to Tulalip tribal lands. Tacoma also wanted Amazon, as did Vancouver B.C.

Still, Seattle can look forward to (?) 6,000 more Amazon employees, and another 2 million square feet of office space, in case we didn't have enough of that.