The Effect of Amazon and Large Companies in Atlanta

Amazon has yet to choose their new headquarters, and Atlanta is still in the running! This recent development has made us at SK Commercial Realty take a long, hard look at how the city would be impacted by the retail behemoth (or any other massive company) if they were to call our city their second home. In between the tax incentives, housing costs, population growth, and infrastructure struggles (lest we forget the dramatic exit of I-85), any corporation of that size would affect how Atlantans live their daily lives.

Amazon HQ2 would bring in up to 50,000 high-paying jobs to the city, which means big changes for the real estate market. In Seattle, for instance, the office space Amazon occupies is equal to the next biggest 40 employers combined. It takes 43 companies to match Amazon’s 8.1 million square feet of office space (see chart below). For business owners in Atlanta, this could mean more competition in order to grow or move your organization into a more favorable location, especially if it’s near the downtown area. As Amazon’s original location was expanding, it leased 400,000 square feet in a popular Seattle neighborhood, limiting the availability for other businesses in the area.  

In most cities, the sale of an existing building is two to five times the cost of building a new one, so we’re ready with an extensive list of available properties, including plots of land so you don’t need to worry about the competition snagging a new spot for your organization. While it may or may not be in the cards for Amazon to call Atlanta home, our decades of experience at SK Commercial Realty helps to keep our finger on the pulse of market shifts if a giant corporation were to come to town. Contact us today if you’re in the market for office, medical, or industrial space!