Surely Amazon had to know that too.
Do you think there may have been some sleight of hand on the part of Amazon for some uknown to us reason and they didn’t really intend to put a center there at all?
Maybe. But I would put this out there for your consideration:
1. What exactly would they gain by doing this?
2. The scenario you presented is certainly a possibility when you remember that Amazon was supposed to be looking for a second headquarters location -- not two of them. Maybe the selected two -- just to see which one would generate more public support locally?
3. The "sleight of hand" I'm almost certain Amazon has done here is the whole tax break negotiation process. They had all these cities falling all over themselves offering tax breaks to Amazon ... but I'm willing to bet Amazon would have made their ultimate decision about the second HQ even if they didn't get a single penny in tax breaks.