Amazon is looking for office space in Miami as company founder Jeff Bezos plans to move to Florida after spending 29 years in Seattle.
The tech giant’s search for 50,000 square feet of office space in Miami began before Bezos announced his plans to move to an opulent village near the city, an Amazon spokesperson said, according to Bloomberg. The Amazon founder — who is now the company’s executive chairman — said earlier this month that he was moving to Florida, and he recently purchased a $79 million mansion in Indian Creek’s “Billionaire Bunker,” while also paying $68 million for the neighboring property.
An Amazon spokesperson told Axios that the company is seeking office space in Florida due to its growth in the Miami area over the past few years. More than 400 Amazon corporate and tech employees work in the existing serviced office locations the company has in Miami, but the company’s hunt for 50,000 square feet of office space would make it the first base location in the city, Axios reported.
Amazon’s search for more office space in Florida comes as other major corporations expand in the Miami area. In 2021, Microsoft leased a 50,000-square-foot office in the city for its new regional headquarters. Nearly a year later, hedge fund Citadel fled Chicago for Miami with its CEO Ken Griffin citing rising crime rates in Chicago for his decision.
Griffin announced Citadel’s move after two of his employees were attacked and robbed in Chicago. The CEO said one employee had “a gun to his head” during a coffee run, and another was attacked by “some random lunatic just trying to punch him in the head” while he was waiting for a car.
Earlier this year, private equity firm Thomas Bravo moved its headquarters from San Francisco to Miami after announcing the plan in 2021, pointing to Miami’s “fast-growing technology and business hubs.”
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An analysis from Business Insider earlier this month said cities in red states are poised to become “economic powerhouses,” challenging cities such as New York and San Francisco. Business Insider wrote that Miami, Houston, Dallas, and Nashville are experiencing a surge in businesses flocking to them while the coastal cities are seeing businesses and residents leaving.
Miami’s population has also increased at the fourth-fastest rate among the 50 largest U.S. cities between 2021 and 2022, growing by 1.7% over that time period.