Earlier this year, Amazon’s $2.5 billion HQ2 rendering for the Arlington project was ridiculed by people. The building is called The Helix, which is a bit like a poop emoji.

Can you imagine the things in the Navy Yard or the Schuylkill yard in the college town?there Philadelphia Once pitched to the tech giant to open a store in a second location outside of Seattle.

In the new book by Brad Stone, author of The Everything Store, Recently released “Amazon Unbound” Philly’s proposal seems to be one of the top finalists worth considering.Obviously, one of the hang up calls is Andy Jassy, ??who is about to become Amazon CEO Is a fan of the New York Giants.

This is a tidbit Can be mixed and matched, Which examines some interesting details in Stone’s book, and what they reveal about Amazon founder and outgoing CEO Jeff Bezos:

The entire HQ2 beauty pageant (not the best idea at the beginning) was cursed by the unusual Bezos not listening. His search committee recommended three shortlisted cities: Chicago, Philadelphia and Raleigh. Part of the reason why Philadelphia was eliminated is that Bezos’ successor Andy Jassy (Andy Jassy) is a fan of the New York Giants. Bezos himself seems to prefer the areas that offer the greatest tax benefits, which means New York City and Northern Virginia.

Philadelphia made Actively promote When it launched HQ2 search at the end of 2017, it appealed to Amazon to provide attractive tax incentives, totaling approximately $5.5 billion, including Pennsylvania’s $1 billion tax relief. Mayor Jim Kenney touted the city’s geographic area, calling it the “Goldlock District” for logistics and talent in the “East Coast Amazon” hub, which could bring about 50,000 jobs to the city.

Although Amazon’s HQ2 search team was very impressed with the services provided by Philadelphia, Stone’s book details how the personal wishes of Amazon executives largely determined the final decision to choose two locations in Northern Virginia and Queens. .The New York site was abandoned due to major political resistance, prompting Amazon Choose a factory with 25,000 employees in Arlington And plans to allocate another 25,000 in other offices in the United States.

Amazon also chose Nashville as the location of its “Operational Excellence Center” and recruited 5,000 jobs and invested $230 million.

For Philadelphia residents, the comfort of missing Amazon HQ2 is that its arrival may be a mixed blessing.If Seattle’s Rents have risen in the past ten years There are any signs that Amazon will change the housing economy in Philadelphia. A study by Zillow Estimated median rent in Philadelphia Within a year of Amazon landing here, the price may jump to 138 US dollars.

In the long run, in any case, Amazon seems likely to invest heavily in the Philadelphia area.The company has Several warehouses have been added in recent years And finally set his sights on the redevelopment of the building The site of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery It closed after the explosion in 2019.

It’s hard to imagine that the competition in the NFC East District did affect Amazon’s decision not to move to Philadelphia, but it still makes people feel that the Eagles are among them. Their Super Bowl LII ran very well In the early stages of the company’s HQ2 search.