We’ll Leave The Light On Amazon!

As Tom Bodett of Motel 6 fame always says “…we’ll leave the light on for you.” This is most true in Atlanta, one of the finalist cities in
the great Amazon HQ2 debacle. After promising a performance based incentive package of three billion dollars to attract the retail giant
to a obscure spot in Queens, New York, local, state and federal politicians managed to pull defeat from the jaws of victory. Amazon,
after failing to develop the thick skin necessary to weather the real estate market in New York City, decided to pull the plug on the deal
after criticism of the deal overwhelmed them. Those three billion dollars were going to bring for 25,000 – 40,000 new jobs paying on
average $150,000.00 per year. Add to that the eight million square feet of space and eleven billion in tax revenues from those jobs and
buildings, and the City of New York was going to haul in a windfall never seen before. Oh, while we are at our calculators, let’s factor in
the new homes or apartments that won’t get built to house the tens of thousands of Amazon workers. Also add in the support
businesses that won’t be moving there to peddle their wares or services. Don’t forget the hundreds of new restaurants, dry cleaners,
coffee shops and other too numerous to name businesses that won’t be started up by small entrepreneurs in the area. What about all
the construction workers who won’t be getting pay checks from Amazon’s contractors? The list goes on and on. Looks like the
politicians stuck it to the world’s richest man, and tens of thousands of their constituents. Unfortunately, this kind of thing goes on all
over the country.
That being said, once Amazon gets over the rough and tumble world of New York City real estate, they can certainly find a home in a
gentile southern city named Atlanta. The weather is better, it isn’t populated by New Yorkers, and we are far more polite than the folks
in Long Island City. We will roll out the red carpet, pour ice tea, shake their hands and smile all the way to the bank. These are just a
few of the advantages of relocating to our fair city. We would love to have the jobs, both at Amazon and at the businesses that would
come to Atlanta with Amazon. Traffic? It is already a mess. Maybe Amazon would chip in for more rail lines. They were willing to do a
bunch of stuff for ungrateful New Yorkers. The Atlanta area has around six million folks now, so another 25,000 – 40,000 won’t hurt.
The city and state need to get on the next plane to Seattle and tell the folks at Amazon to ignore all those other cities that didn’t make
the cut and come on down. It is said that the call letters for the first radio station in Georgia, WSB, stands for “Welcome South
Brother!” That would be a great slogan on the door mat we place in front of HQ2, somewhere in downtown Atlanta. Wait! Why not
locate in the northwest section of Atlanta. The Atlanta Commercial Group would be glad to assist in locating the perfect site. We have
the tools and experience to square Amazon away in no time. Our group sells a lot of land and our politicians are already trained in
doing big deals like the new Braves stadium. It is a win-win for everybody. The Atlanta Commercial Group can handle things
nationwide through our KW Commercial network and locally from Huntsville to Augusta, Chattanoga to Macon, we are ready and
knowledgable.
If you are not quite the size of Amazon, The Atlanta Commercial Group is still your best bet for land, retail, office or industrial investment
properties. Give us a call, and, if you know Jeff Bezos’ number, let him know we are ready to help and won’t let our politicians say ugly
things!