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While cities across North America are seeking to host
Seattle-based Amazon's second headquarters, the world's largest
online retailer is still expanding its main campus. Company
office towers and high-end eateries have taken the place of
warehouses and parking lots in Seattle's South Lake Union
district. The Spheres complex, officially open to workers on
Tuesday, is the pinnacle of a decade of development here.
The Spheres' three glass domes house some 40,000 plants of 400
species. Amazon, famous for its demanding work culture, hopes
the Spheres' lush environs will let employees reflect and have
chance encounters, spawning new products or plans.
The space is more like a greenhouse than a typical office.
Instead of enclosed conference rooms or desks, there are
walkways and unconventional meeting spaces with chairs.
Amazon has invested $3.7 billion on buildings and infrastructure
in Seattle from 2010 to summer 2017, a figure that has public
officials competing for its "HQ2" salivating. Amazon has said it
expects to invest more than $5 billion in construction of HQ2
and to create as many as 50,000 jobs.
Earlier this month, the online retailer narrowed 238
applications for its second headquarters to 20. The finalists,
from Boston and New York to Austin, Texas, largely fit the bill
of being big metropolises that can attract highly educated tech
talent.
Amazon started the frenzied HQ2 contest last summer and plans to
pick a winner later this year.
Seattle's mayor, the governor of Washington and Amazon's top
real estate executive were expected to speak during the Spheres'
opening ceremony. The Spheres will become part of Amazon's
guided campus tours, and members of the public can also visit an
exhibit at the Spheres by appointment starting Tuesday.
(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in Seattle, editing by Peter
Henderson and Cynthia Osterman)
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