Study: These cities are most likely to win Amazon's $5B HQ2 bid

Dive Brief:

New York City might be the best place for Amazon to build its second North American headquarters, according to a report from Anderson Economic Group (AEG).
AEG ranked New York City as No. 1 among the 35 U.S. cities it says meet Amazon's requirements, citing its extensive transportation system, and qualified labor pool, customers and supply chain. However, it noted that the cost of doing business there is high.
Cities are likely to offer Amazon incentive packages, which will surely impact the company's location decision. Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Dallas, Salt Lake City and San Diego rounded out AEG's top 10.

Dive Insight:

Cities vying for an Amazon bid can look to Seattle for an idea of what could be in store for them as host of the new headquarters. The e-commerce giant's growth has created a building boom in Seattle as well as tens of thousands of new jobs. But the city has also seen skyrocketing housing costs and an increase in homelessness as well as more traffic congestion as transportation improvements fail to keep up with demand.

Some Seattle officials have considered putting in a bid for the new Amazon headquarters, however.

Public officials are seemingly always on the lookout for ways to increase their state's or municipality's tax base and generate new jobs. And they have proven more willing than ever to offer big benefit packages to major companies that are willing to relocate to their jurisdictions. However, past precedents fall short of the projected scope of Amazon's project.

South Carolina agreed to borrow $123 million in 2015 to satisfy a $200 million–plus incentive package offered to Volvo in exchange for the automaker's promise to build a $500 million manufacturing plant near Charleston. That deal paid off as the company recently announced plans to double its investment in the plant.

Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn could be in store for a $3 billion tax incentive package from the state of Wisconsin in exchange for building a $10 billion flat-panel display factory there. Gov. Scott Walker signed the deal into law last month, but questions remain around the constitutionality of some of the measure's provisions. There has also been pushback over how much the agreement will cost taxpayers.

Foxconn and Racine County, WI, officials are expected to announce the location of the proposed 20 million-square-foot facility today.