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BCBUSINESS.CA NOVEMBER 2017 BCBUSINESS 69 their development. Research by urban theorist Richard Florida indicates that San Francisco now attracts more venture capital investment than all of Silicon Valley, while New York City has in recent years emerged as a leading startup hub. In a paper published this year, Startup City: The Urban Shift in Venture Capital and High Technoloy, the University of Toronto professor found correlations between VC investment and social diversity—the prevalence of gay people and immigrants, for example—but not with some assumed lures, such as medical centres and universities, more commonly found in outlying communities. "While large urban centers have historically been sources of venture capital, the high-tech startups they funded were mainly, if not exclusively, located in suburban campuses in California's Silicon Valley, Boston's Route 128 corridor, the Research Triangle of North Carolina, and in the suburbs of Austin and Seattle," Florida wrote. "But high-tech devel- opment, startup activity, and venture investment have recently begun to shift to urban centers and also to close-in, mixed-use, transit-oriented, walk- able suburbs." Earlier generations of coders were content to drive 45 minutes or more to a suburban campus, but the millennials that companies are hiring today prefer to live and work in the city, leasing agent Carl- son says. They want easy, 24-hour transit access and amenities such as restaurants, bars and Œtness clubs in close proximity. Tenants in IT commonly ask for things like secure bike storage and showers, along W ith just one click, Ama- zon.com Inc.'s request for proposals for a new headquarters triggered what may be the biggest corpo- rate relocation lottery in history. At press time, Vancouver and more than 100 other Canadian and U.S. cities were vying for the coveted prize. The Seattle-based retail giant will announce the lucky winner next year. With its high housing costs and tight land supply, what are Terminal City's chances of playing host to an 8.1-million-square-foot HQ teem- ing with some 50,000 employees? Experts point out that homes are expensive in most of the areas favoured by tech companies, including Seattle and Silicon Valley, so this factor doesn't necessarily knock Vancouver out of contention. On the plus side, the city offers work-life balance, with outdoor recreation and a vibrant downtown. "From purely a cultural and cool factor, Vancouver defi- nitely meets the requirements," says Glenn Gardner, principal at Avison Young Property Manage- ment (BC) Inc. "It has everything that a trendy technology company would be looking for." Add Canadian selling points like multiculturalism and govern- ment-funded health care, and Vancouver could have a significant edge on U.S. rivals. Amazon has 5,000 openings for software devel- opers, according to commercial real estate firm Colliers Interna- tional. "You're not going to fill that immediately anywhere so being able to source globally is probably a very important issue," says Craig Hennigar, director of market intelligence, Canada, with Colliers, adding that Vancouver's openness to immigration is attractive. Although currency exchange differences could reduce the company's costs, one of the biggest savings for businesses in Canada is on health care. "There's huge issues in the United States for health coverage—government health care just isn't there for the masses like it is here," notes Anthony Ariganello, president and CEO of Chartered Professionals in Human Resources B.C. & Yukon. Another potential Vancouver advantage: its work culture closely matches Seattle's. Hennigar says this could be a problem if Amazon is trying to make its ranks more diverse, which some speculate may be the reason behind the new HQ. But Ariganello sees it as a positive for Vancouver, citing the disastrous merger of U.S. Chrysler Corp. and Daimler-Benz AG. This odd-couple tie-up of a U.S. and a German automaker with two dif- ferent styles went sour after nine years. It would be a huge culture shock for Amazon to train thou- sands of new staff in a location that isn't in tune with West Coast culture, Ariganello argues. "If you don't have the right employee cul- ture, and particularly if the culture isn't right, you're doomed to fail." Among the obstacles for Vancouver is finding a suitable site. Although there are some in the region (see below), municipal governments would need to allow significant density. The entire downtown core has only about 22 million square feet of office space. With no other headquarters of comparable size, Amazon could make its mark on Vancouver. "The question is what kind of strain that might put on other tech firms to lose employees," Hennigar says. "In a city like Vancouver, it almost becomes like a black hole." Orange Crush Why Vancouver could be a strong contender to land Amazon's second headquarters b y S c o t t N e u f e l d P R I M E L O C A T I O N S Potential Metro Vancouver sites for Amazon's second HQ ■ Oakridge redevelopment, Cambie and West 41st, Vancouver ■ Jericho Lands, West 4th and Alma, Vancouver ■ Canada Post site (if amassed with Bay Parkade and other downtown sites), Vancouver ■ UBC Endowment Lands, Vancouver ■ Great Northern Way/Terminal/Main area, Vancouver ■ False Creek Flats, Vancouver ■ Aquilini lands near BCIT, Willingdon/Canada Way, Burnaby ■ Brentwood Mall/Willingdon area, Burnaby ■ Cypress Village, West Vancouver SOURCE: CRAIG HENNIGAR, COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL Earlier generations of coders were content to drive 45 minutes or more to a subur- ban campus, but the millennials that companies are hiring today prefer to live and work in the city

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