Though Amazon has yet to announce where it plans to build its second headquarters, the Seattle-based tech giant, which already employs 1,000 people in Boston and Cambridge, is looking to lease up to one million square feet of office space in Boston’s Seaport district.
Amazon has been signaling for several months that it wants to expand in Boston, and it is negotiating for a 500,000 square foot office lease, with the option of another 500,000 square feet of space, at WS Development's Seaport Square. The Seaport district is one of Boston's fastest growing areas.
WGBH contributor and Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung says it's hard to know what this signifies, but it feels like a win for the city.
“If Amazon puts a million square feet in the Seaport District, that is huge. If they bring another 1,000 employees here, or 2,000 employees, that is huge," she said. "It’s not 50,000 workers that Amazon’s second headquarters would bring, but a company bringing 1,000 ... high-paying jobs to Boston is a huge win.”
Leung says Amazon is notoriously secretive, and she adds that the company is sifting through more than 200 proposals from around the country for its second headquarters. She says she expected a second round list to be put out by the end of 2017, but she is now looking to see something within the first quarter of this year.
Click on the audio player above to listen to the interview with Shirley Leung.
