Dayton joins economic development officials to review ideas for Amazon HQ bid

Gov. Mark Dayton joined other economic development officials Friday in reviewing ideas from cities and real estate developers that the state could pitch to Amazon.com Inc. for its second headquarters.

The company has requested regions across North America to propose by Oct. 19 locations for a corporate campus where Amazon says 50,000 people may eventually work.

On the day Amazon announced the beauty contest, Dayton tapped Greater MSP, the public-private regional promotion group, and the state Department of Employment and Economic Development to coordinate Minnesota's proposal.

More than a dozen potential developments sites from across the Twin Cities were submitted last week by different municipalities and real estate developers. Minneapolis submitted four prospective sites, and St. Paul offered three. Several suburbs, counties and private companies also sent in proposal documents.

"We were all very impressed with the work done by local governments," DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy said in a statement issued after Friday's meeting.

On Monday, representatives from the cities and counties that submitted sites are scheduled to meet with DEED and Greater MSP to learn about the next steps, according to city sources.

"Our next steps will be to connect with communities and begin to prepare the proposal," Hardy said. "Minnesota is well on its way to submitting a comprehensive and competitive proposal ahead of the October 19 deadline."

The company initially plans to spend $300 million to $600 million for an office tower or complex with 500,000 to 1 million square feet of space. By comparison, the three buildings that comprise the former Macy's store and offices in downtown Minneapolis have about 1 million square feet of space.

Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495

Twitter: @nicolenorfleet