Local leaders said Orange County still could be in the running to host Amazon’s new second headquarters after a company spokesman said the firm is looking at the “LA metropolitan area” as one of 20 finalists.

The Seattle-based e-commerce giant announced Thursday, Jan. 18, it had narrowed its list of North American cities to 20 possible locations for what’s been dubbed “HQ2.”

Besides places such as New York, Boston, Toronto and Washington, D.C., the initial statement included “Los Angeles, CA,” but didn’t specify where in Los Angeles. And, the statement didn’t say whether that included areas outside the city or county of Los Angeles.

“It includes LA Metropolitan Area,” an email from Amazon spokesman Adam Sedo said in response to a Southern California News Group request for clarification. No further explanation was provided, leading those involved in two of the Orange County proposals to speculate they still might be in the running.

No. 8 Seattle: $330 billion in GDP, No. 11 in size. 5-year growth: 3.66 percent a year. (Photo by Elaine Thompson/Associated Press)

Amazon announced Thursday, Sept. 7, that it has opened the search for a second headquarters, promising to spend more than $5 billion on the opening.

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Developer Mike Harrah’s plan, dubbed “Orange County Silicon City,” includes a beefed-up proposal for redeveloping the Orange County Register’s recently vacated 20-acre site on Grand Avenue, along with his still unbuilt One Broadway Plaza tower a mile away in downtown Santa Ana. It also calls for the redevelopment of the 102-acre Willowick Golf Course on Santa Ana’s western edge. A light rail currently under development, the OC Streetcar, eventually would link all three sites, just over 3 miles apart. In all, the project would provide 5.7 million square feet of office space, 2.4 million square feet of retail and restaurants, 400 hotel rooms and nearly 4,500 apartment and condo units. (Courtesy of Gensler)

Developer Mike Harrah’s plan, dubbed “Orange County Silicon City,” includes a beefed-up proposal for redeveloping the Orange County Register’s recently vacated 20-acre site on Grand Avenue, along with his still unbuilt One Broadway Plaza tower a mile away in downtown Santa Ana. It also calls for the redevelopment of the 102-acre Willowick Golf Course on Santa Ana’s western edge. A light rail currently under development, the OC Streetcar, eventually would link all three sites, just over 3 miles apart. In all, the project would provide 5.7 million square feet of office space, 2.4 million square feet of retail and restaurants, 400 hotel rooms and nearly 4,500 apartment and condo units. (Courtesy of Gensler)

Willowick Golf Course: The 89-year-old, 18-hole course along the Santa Ana River would be reduced to nine holes, with new buildings occupying much of its open space. The plan includes 2 million square feet of office, 3,000 apartments, a 200-room hotel, retail and restaurants. (Courtesy of Gensler)



Developer Mike Harrah’s plan, dubbed “Orange County Silicon City,” includes a beefed-up proposal for redeveloping the Orange County Register’s recently vacated 20-acre site on Grand Avenue, along with his still unbuilt One Broadway Plaza tower a mile away in downtown Santa Ana. It also calls for the redevelopment of the 102-acre Willowick Golf Course on Santa Ana’s western edge. A light rail currently under development, the OC Streetcar, eventually would link all three sites, just over 3 miles apart. In all, the project would provide 5.7 million square feet of office space, 2.4 million square feet of retail and restaurants, 400 hotel rooms and nearly 4,500 apartment and condo units. (Courtesy of Gensler)

This image shows what Amazon’s second headquarters could look like if the tech giant decides to come to Irvine. (Courtesy of City of Irvine)



“We may just be LA to them,” Irvine Mayor Donald Wagner said after hearing about Sedo’s email.

Amazon calls to the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. and the city of Huntington Beach indicated that the company may be interested in Los Angeles County sites.

Amazon told the LAEDC its proposal on behalf of nine Los Angeles County sites is moving ahead as a finalist, said LAEDC spokesman Lawren Markle.

“I’m not saying that Orange County is not in there. I know for certain our proposal is moving ahead,” Markle said.

An Amazon official told Huntington Beach in a separate call the joint bid it had submitted with Long Beach, called Amazon Coast, did not make the final list of candidates, said Huntington Beach Assistant City Manager Lori Ann Farrell. But the Amazon official said the company left open the possibility that some of the sites contained in the bid could be considered.

“We are hoping that within the greater Los Angeles area some of our sites could be considered,” Farrell said.

Earlier on Thursday, Wagner sent out a statement indicating Irvine would be willing to help Los Angeles in its final bid.

“The entire Southern California region would benefit by the selection of Los Angeles and we offer our cooperation to Mayor Garcetti and his team as the bids move forward,” said Donald P. Wagner. “The city that is the final choice will impact an entire region economically. With partner Irvine Company, Irvine’s bid was a clear example of our many strengths and I am quite proud of it and of our city. Under this City Council, Irvine will remain forward-looking, vibrant, and a critical driver of economic prosperity for the entire Southern California region.”

Wagner said Amazon called Irvine City Hall about 7 a.m. Thursday and left a message, and the city was trying to get back in touch with the caller.

“We’ve been sort of playing phone tag, and I have no idea whether it’s, ‘Thanks for the interest, we’re going to go in a different direction’ or whether they wanted to explain perhaps whether the LA metropolitan region included Irvine and Huntington Beach.”

Last year, Amazon announced it was seeking a home for a multibillion-dollar second corporate campus that eventually would provide 50,000 high-paying jobs.

Irvine, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach and about 10 other Southern California cities announced plans to submit proposals for HQ2. Irvine Co.’s Donald Bren offered a “one-click” option in which he would build new offices per Amazon’s specifications and lease the space to Amazon.

Surf City partnered with Long Beach, identifying three sites as possible spots where Amazon could land: The Boeing campus in North Huntington Beach, the Ocean Avenue business corridor in downtown Long Beach and Boeing’s C-17 facility next to the Long Beach Airport.

Santa Ana developer Mike Harrah pitched his own three-parcel plan that would repurpose the former Orange County Register Building and his proposed high-rise, One Broadway Plaza, in Santa Ana, along with the Willowick Golf Course on the Santa Ana River. All three sites eventually will be linked by a planned light rail line now under development.

Harrah said he recently got a call from a Seattle consultant he assumed is working with Amazon seeking more information about the three Santa Ana sites.

“I think L.A. means the L.A. area. I don’t think Orange County is out,” Harrah said. “Unfortunately, not everybody in the world recognizes Orange County. They think Orange County is part of L.A.”

Lucy Dunn, CEO of the Orange County Business Council, also interpreted Amazon’s statement as possibly including Orange County.

“I would like to believe Orange County proposals are strongly in the running for an L.A. Metropolitan area (comprised of LA-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA),” she said in an email. “The talent is here, the lifestyle is here and with one $5 billion turnkey offer from Irvine, there’s much to like in Orange County.”

Los Angeles and Denver were the only finalists west of the Rocky Mountains. Some have speculated Amazon would want a second executive hub on the other side of the continent.

Other finalists were Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis, Miami, Montgomery County in Maryland, Nashville, Newark, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Columbus, Ohio.

In Thursday’s announcement, Amazon said it had reviewed 238 proposals from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Twenty of those, the announcement said, were chosen “to move to the next phase of the process.”

“Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough – all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity,” Amazon’s Holly Sullivan said in a statement. “Through this process, we learned about many new communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation.”

Sullivan added, “In the coming months, Amazon will work with each of the candidate locations to dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information, and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership that can accommodate the company’s hiring plans as well as benefit its employees and the local community. Amazon expects to make a decision in 2018.”

— Register staff writer Greg Mellen contributed to this report.