A California city offers Amazon $400 million incentive to build headquarters near US-Mexico border

The city of Chula Vista, California, is offering a $400-million incentive package to Amazon if it decides to build its second headquarters there, reports Business Imsider

The plan would be part of the larger redevelopment of Chula Vista’s downtown.

The bid also includes a proposal for what would be the “world’s first binational university” with campuses in the United States and Mexico.

Across North America, over 50 cities are submitting bids to house Amazon’s second headquarters. The company announced last month that it will invest $5 billion in the construction of the new facility, called HQ2, in an undetermined location and create 50,000 new jobs.

Bids are due on Thursday, but a few cities have already shared their proposals for Amazon’s campus.

Chula Vista, a city 10 miles outside of downtown San Diego, California, has a distinct vision.

Its 25-page proposal, called “Welcome Home Amazon,” outlines a $400-million incentive package in the form of tax breaks, and promises to give Amazon 8 million square feet of space.

In a statement, the city of Chula Vista said its neighborhoods were “shovel ready.”

Chula Vista’s Amazon proposal is part of a larger redevelopment plan for the city over the next 20 years, which will be completed whether or not Amazon comes to the California city.

The area is currently home to over 260,000 people, but its masterplan (dubbed “Millenia”) calls for 11 new neighborhoods that will house approximately 60,000 new residents, according to the city. The plan mostly focuses on new housing, though it also includes a giant office park, more retail space, and a hotel.

Amazon’s site in Chula Vista would be about six miles from the United States-Mexico border in Tijuana. The city’s proposal also calls for the creation of “the world’s first binational university” near Amazon’s headquarters — which would have campuses in both California and Mexico.

“We dream of a university that is integrated with industry so much so that classes could be held on the second floor while industry and internships are happening on the third, fourth and fifth floors. We want a university that prepares students to enter the workforce the day they graduate, regardless of what country they come from,” the city wrote in its bid.

Chula Vista said construction on Amazon’s HQ2 site could be completed as early as 2020.