Boston Amazon sites: City picks 4 likeliest spots

Then there’s Wonderland

By Tom Acitelli@tomacitelli Oct 5, 2017, 8:22am EDT

E-commerce giant Amazon wants by October 19 pitches from cities and states interested in hosting its second headquarters.

Here are the likeliest spots that Boston will pitch, plus one more.

Suffolk Downs

An aerial view of a large park space. There are buildings on the perimeter of the park space.

The old 161-acre racetrack in East Boston is the city’s preferred site. There’s that space, for one thing. Amazon wants to eventually employ 50,000 people at its second headquarters, so it will need room to grow.

There are also two nearby Blue Line stops—built-in transit infrastructure!

Widett Circle

Mayor Marty Walsh has long wanted to turn the 83-acre collection of warehouses and rail yards in South Boston into a new neighborhood all its own (and some wanted to turn it into Olympic Village, remember that?).

As the Globe’s Tim Logan notes, such a neighborhood-from-scratch would require a major business tenant. Enter Amazon.

Beacon Park Yard

Harvard University owns the 22-acre rail yard in Allston, which was shuttered in 2013.

It’s right off the Turnpike, but adrift from the T. (Amazon has said access to public transit is one of its selection criteria.)

Around South Station

A giant brown building. There is a street intersection in the foreground with people.

Boston is said to be considering pitching not only a planned tower atop New England’s busiest transit hub but parcels around South Station as well for an Amazon headquarters.

This is probably the least likeliest of the city’s ideas to ever come to fruition given the kind of space the e-retailer wants—though the area is no stranger to corporate HQs.

Wonderland Greyhound Park

Boston is not considering pitching this 38-acre former dog-racing palace—probably because it’s not in Boston, but just over the line in Revere.

It checks a lot of Amazon’s boxes, given that proximity to Boston (and its airport) and its nearness to the Blue Line.

Boston has three or four options for Amazon’s choosing [Globe]
Boston and Amazon: City is reportedly the frontrunner for new HQ [Curbed Boston]
18 renderings and maps to explain the Boston Olympics [Curbed Boston]
Boston’s South Station: The ultimate guide [Curbed Boston]
South Station tower takes big steps toward early 2017 groundbreaking [Curbed Boston]
General Electric pushes back opening of Fort Point building to 2021 [Curbed Boston]
Wonderland Greyhound Park demolition leaves big question mark beside the Blue Line [Curbed Boston]