A portion of Columbus’ pitch to lure Amazon’s second headquarters and the 50,000 jobs that come with it included the opiate crisis, population decline in Ohio and hate crimes in the region.



If that sounds like an unusual way to chase a $5 billion investment, economic development and site selection officials would agree. But the unprecedented race for Amazon HQ2 has required answering questions officials say they have never heard from businesses considering the city.



"They asked what are your big challenges. We believe that you don’t make progress on tough issues if you aren’t honest about tough issues," said Steve Schoeny, Columbus economic development director. "We felt like it made sense to be honest about what are the issues that are challenging for our city."



Those talking points and other previously undisclosed details about central Ohio’s bid for Amazon were included as part of more than 1,300 pages of documents the city released to The Dispatch on Thursday in response to a public records request.



The documents shed new light on the breadth of information Amazon requested from cities that made the cut for its top 20 list in in January. The region answered those questions early this year ahead of a site visit Amazon made in April.



Columbus assembled everything from the size of sewer lines on sites it was pitching to detailed hate crime rates in the city. It also provided information about local schools, elected officials and local recycling programs.



"The thoroughness and thoughtfulness that went into what they were asking was very impressive," Schoeny said. "You’re probably seeing 20 percent of what they asked for."



Columbus 2020, the region’s private economic development agency, coordinated the Amazon pitch. The city, which is subject to state open records laws, assembled only a portion of that proposal.



Details about the Amazon proposal have been a closely guarded secret in most cities. Columbus originally used the code name "Project Ares" to refer to its Amazon bid, but documents show it changed to "Project Z" after the original code name was revealed.



In a January email to his fellow city department directors, Schoeny wrote that the company’s name should never be used in written communication.



Columbus has pitched sites throughout Columbus to Amazon, including those in Franklinton, on the Scioto Peninsula, around the Easton business park and at Ohio State University. The city redacted information identifying the privately held sites, citing an exemption in Ohio law for trade secrets.



Ohio State University’s West Campus area was offered as a potential site, which would be bounded by West Lane Avenue and Kenny, North Star and Kinnear roads. The documents point to Ohio State working with Amazon on an "Innovation Center" that would include an interdisciplinary space for computer science and engineering that would help Ohio State double its computer science graduates, among other partnerships.



"We see many ways in which the university and Amazon could work together to support cutting-edge research, provide career opportunities for our students and elevate economic development opportunities. In particular, an Amazon R&D center would be a perfect fit for our innovation corridor," said Ben Johnson, an OSU spokesman, in an email.



The Ohio State Fairgrounds also were considered as an "optional site," documents show. The 80 on the Commons project at the Columbus Commons was included as a potential initial site for Amazon to plant roots while other projects are built.



"I think Amazon can walk and chew gum at the same time," said John Boyd, principal of the Boyd Co., a site-selection company in Princeton, New Jersey. "The real estate component really comes last.’’



More important are talent, transportation infrastructure and incentive packages, he said. The Dispatch has previously reported on the tax incentives Columbus offered Amazon in 2017 before becoming a finalist, including property tax abatements and income-tax refunds likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars.



Boyd said he believes the company’s potential "social impact" is a bigger factor for Amazon than most believe, and that’s why it is asking questions about how the influx of employees could affect affordable housing and other challenges the finalist regions face.



As part of its original proposal, Columbus offered to use tax revenue that it was not abating or refunding to the company to invest in transportation infrastructure around any sites Amazon builds in the city.



In its detailed follow-up, Amazon asked specifically about metro, tram, light rail and other fixed-route transit options around each site. In each case, Columbus committed to leading the charge to acquire rights of way necessary to build those.



"Everything we’re thinking about is how do we use largely the existing right of way. We’ve got some pretty wide streets," Schoeny said, pointing to Broad Street and Olentangy River Road.



At one point, officials working on the project contemplated offering free COTA passes to all Amazon employees and designing new circulator service similar to the free Cbus Downtown circulator, records show.



Columbus managed only a small part of the proposal, Schoeny said, but it required looping in officials from every department in the city.



Schoeny said the Amazon bid was the most complicated and thorough proposal he’s worked on in his career.



"I think it would kill us if every company looked at it with this level of detail," he said.



rrouan@dispatch.com



@RickRouan