INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - The deadline to bid for Amazon's second headquarters was Thursday. The Indy Chamber submitted a bid on behalf of the Indianapolis region Tuesday.
Taylor Schaffer, Communications Director for Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, said via email, "As is the case with economic development inquiries and community bids for major sporting events or conventions, the details of the Indianapolis regional bid will remain confidential."
But it's no secret that Indianapolis, like so many other cities across the country, is salivating over the chance to attract the $470 billion retailer to the Hoosier capital.
Still, as Gerry Dick with Inside INdiana Business says, there are trade-offs with winning the high-stakes bid.
The biggest pay-off? He said, "50,000 jobs over 10-15 years or so, an average salary of $100,000. I mean it's off the charts from a job standpoint."
And he said, even if you didn't work at Amazon, you could still see a bump in pay.
"It would make jobs even tighter and put pressure on salaries and what people take home," Dick said.
And it would bring some other new jobs right away. Think of all the people needed to build a campus the size of four-and-a-half Lucas Oil Stadiums. Plus, if Amazon's moved here, "Who else might come or locate here because it's the the city where Amazon is?" Dick said.
With Salesforce already here, he said landing Amazon "would be transformational, it would solidify Indianapolis as a tech hub."
And because mass transit is part of the deal, Dick said it would get the ball rolling on a transit system beyond Indianapolis. But there's also a flip side to landing the giant retailer.
Dick said it would put a huge strain on the workforce "and the ability of companies outside of Amazon to find workers."
And again, those companies would likely have to pay workers more because of what Amazon would be paying its workers.
You'd face a lot more construction and with all those new people, traffic could increase dramatically. Then there's housing market, which is already tight.
"Do we have the ability to accommodate that big of an economic deal?" Dick asked.
Housing prices would likely jump to accommodate the flux in new residents, which is great for homeowners, but hard on first-time buyers and renters. Still, Dick thinks the pros outweigh the cons.
"It's the economic deal of a generation," he said. "I think the odds are long for Indianapolis getting this, but I think the city the region, because this is a regional effort had to do it, had to be bid on it, to make a statement and get out there and I think it's been a positive experience for people in the regional to come together and put a proposal together."
We also asked Governor Eric Holcomb to weigh in on the bid. He said he was "excited" at the chance of 50,000 high-paying jobs.
"We make perfect sense for Amazon to continue to evolve and grow their business," he said, "and Indiana would be the perfect partner."
He said the state offering a strong talent pool, that logistically it was centrally located and he touted the "tax and regulatory climates that provide stability and predictability."
The governor said it was important to get in on the bidding because "we aspire to lead the way and we are on so many fronts in terms of strengthening our economy and filing that pipeline and bringing more diverse talent to our state that we become this midwest tech hub. We can become a tech hub for the nation."
Amazon has said it's taking it's time making a decision, that it will probably be a year before it chooses a location for its second headquarters.