Tulsa didn’t make Amazon’s 20 city short list for its second headquarters, and neither did Day 1, Oklahoma.
The Day 1 team, part of Tulsa-based Civic Ninjas, proposed Amazon be a partner in building from the ground up a 50 square mile city somewhere in a 600 square mile zone halfway between Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
"When you look at what’s happening around the rest of the world — especially in Asia, parts of India, Dubai, areas like that — you actually see these greenfield cities as being these focused areas of innovation that give these countries the opportunity to really invent what’s next," said team lead Scott Phillips.
The $18.5 billion dollar plan called for making Day 1 the anchor of a three-city metroplex linked by high-speed transit, because Day 1 would still be a 45 minute drive from Tulsa or OKC.
"If you could drop the commute between either Tulsa or Oklahoma City to Day 1, Oklahoma, to, let’s say 10 to 15 minutes, suddenly, that looks a lot different to who can participate in what’s happening there," Phillips said.
The Day 1 pitch calls for the new city to build a stadium to recruit an NFL or MLS team and build a new international airport. The proposal said up to 50 percent of the funding for the new city could be captured from increased property values, sparked by the development itself. Another $5 billion or so could come from existing state tax incentives.
Phillips said several big, innovative companies are starting to consider second headquarters.
"Amazon was just the first one to talk about it, but people may be familiar with Alibaba, which is quickly becoming a major competitor to Amazon," Phillips said. "So, we’ve certainly been scratching our heads about other potential partners we can reach out to and push this vision with."
