A new report says Dallas is in the running again for a new Amazon office.
The Dallas Business Journal cites multiple sources that say e-commerce and technology giant Amazon is interested in Uptown Dallas for new construction to house between 200 and 300 employees.
The publication said the new office would be separate from existing Amazon Web Service offices near the Galleria Dallas.
In 2018, Dallas officials said the city was among three finalists for the much larger Amazon HQ2 with tens of thousands of new workers. North Texas was passed up when Amazon selected Northern Virginia for HQ2 instead.
Dallas business and city leaders Wednesday were excited to hear that Amazon may still find their city attractive.
Kathy Stewart is the Executive Director of Uptown Dallas, Inc.
“I think people appreciate the new urban lifestyle and want to be able to walk to restaurants walk to shopping, walk to work and all of that is available very much in Uptown,” said Kathy Stewart, executive director of Uptown Dallas, Inc.
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New office construction is already planned in Uptown at several locations, including the site of a former grocery story on McKinney at Lemmon avenues.
“Uptown is definitely your place for live, work and play,” Stewart said.
Downtown Dallas was Amazon’s focus in 2018 during the HQ2 competition, according to local officials. Then, Mayor Mike Rawlings said Amazon was impressed with a combination of sites near Union Station and the former Dallas Morning News building.
Dallas leaders were disappointed and said that the competition was close.
“We heard a lot of, ‘This isn’t the end of our conversation,’” said Kourtny Garrett, executive director of Downtown Dallas, Inc. “And the timing right now could not be more perfect.”
Garrett said DDI just launched a new promotional campaign to promote the Central Dallas advantages.
“The story of capacity, innovation, quality of life and most of all talent, that’s all happening here right now,” she said.
Since 2018, AT&T has been constructing a new plaza near its downtown corporate headquarters to add restaurants and street life. Thousands more residents live in the central city. The area still has abundant vacant land.
Dallas City Council member David Blewett, who represents portions of Downtown and Uptown, said Dallas also offers single family home communities near the center of the city.
“We offer inner city neighborhoods for millenials who want to be here. We have great inner city neighborhoods for young families, older families, great public schools. So, we offer something that the modern worker wants in terms of a city,” Blewett said. “I’m a great example, personally.”
The councilman said he came to Dallas to attend college and stayed to work and raise his family.
“We have options for people who want to come here, and I’ve lived it and I try to promote that,” Blewett said.
A spokesperson at the company's Seattle headquarters said Amazon had no comment Wednesday on rumors about a new Dallas office.
