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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIn October, Indianapolis joined a flurry of other cities in submitting a bid to become home to a second Amazon.com Inc. headquarters.
The giant online retailer kicked off the bidding war in September, when it announced it was searching for a home outside its Seattle base. The deal would bring 50,000 jobs and an investment of more than $5 billion in construction costs.
Amazon made it clear that tax breaks and grants would be big factors in its location decision. The company also stipulated that it wanted to be near a metropolitan area with more than a million people; be able to attract top technical talent; be within 45 minutes of an international airport; have direct access to mass transit; and be able to expand that headquarters to as much as 8 million square feet in the next decade.
Amazon said it received 238 proposals from communities hoping to win the project, known as HQ2.
A “small, diverse group of business and private stakeholders” coordinated and funded by the Indy Chamber and led by Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness were responsible for the central Indiana effort.
But not much is known about the proposal, as officials involved have declined to reveal potential sites or incentive offers.
Officials in Gary also submitted a proposal.
Amazon is expected to make a decision in 2018.•
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