Source: Jose Luis Stephens / Getty
CLEVELAND – We are getting our first look at part of the bid to lure Amazon’s second world headquarters to Northeast Ohio. Cleveland did not make the cut, and the city has been fighting to keep its proposal secret.
The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, known as NOACA, reluctantly released part of the bid after a court ruled they had to reveal it.
“The bid was submitted that we did submit, portrays the city of Cleveland’s momentum, its livability, geographical advantages and other major assets that we have as a city and as a county,” said Mayor Frank Jackson in a city-produced video released last October.
Mayor Jackson and Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish released the short video on the day bids were due to attract Amazon’s proposed second world headquarters.
The city fought to keep the entire bid private, claiming it was proprietary, and contained competitive secrets.
Thursday, because of the court ruling, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, NOACA, released part of the bid, focusing on the area’s transportation advantages.
“I know that we have everything it takes to make this a successful bid,” Jackson said in the video.
According to the released documents, the proposed location for Amazon’s headquarters would be in the center of downtown at the historic Post Office Plaza and Terminal Tower facilities.
The bid stressed that Cleveland is within a day’s drive and an hour’s flight to nearly half of the country’s population and a third of Canada’s.
It touted Cleveland as one of the least congested cities in the nation, with short commute times, convenient interstate highways, easy biking and walking downtown with two full-service airports: Hopkins and Burke.
The bid also says our region boasts the nation’s fourth-largest bus-rapid transit system.
NOACA also states plans include tripling the rail network’s capacity, expanding from the current 37 miles of rail to 111 miles and increasing the number of rail stations from 50 to 162.
It’s says as Amazon’s second home, they could make that happen by 2029.
In addition, they proposed giving Amazon employees a 25% discount on RTA passes.
READ MORE: Fox8.com
Article Courtesy of WJW Fox 8 News Cleveland
First Picture Courtesy of NurPhoto and Getty Images
Second Picture Courtesy of Jose Luis Stephens and Getty Images
