A 27-acre mixed-use development near Dallas' City Hall was a top contender for Amazon.

They gave it a name that's near and dear to Amazon's founder: the Dallas Day 1 district.

And they designed it to be the perfect mousetrap for the Seattle-based retail giant's proposed second headquarters, HQ2.

Steve Van Amburgh, CEO of Dallas developer KDC, said Amazon officials zeroed in on a 27-acre complex of skyscrapers his company wanted to build behind Dallas City Hall.

The mixed-use development would have had more than 8 million square feet of Amazon office space — four times the size of Toyota's new Plano headquarters, also built by KDC. Shops, restaurants and a hotel were all part of the HQ2 bid put together by KDC and landowner Hoque Global.

Designed by award-winning architecture firm Pelli Clarke Pelli, the 10-block development included a row of skyscrapers linked by "sky bridges" on the upper floors.

There was a roof garden connecting the towers. And at the street level, shops and eateries would line a new city park.

"For the last nine months, we have been laser focused on this and working with them," Van Amburgh said. "They really liked what we were trying to do there. They loved Dallas — being here — and the vibe of downtown."

Amazon representatives put boots on the ground in downtown Dallas to get a feel for the neighborhood, he said.

"They got in a fleet of golf carts and went all around our site, went to Deep Ellum and the Farmers Market," Van Amburgh said.

KDC officials produced videos of what the huge Amazon complex would look like. They identified space in existing downtown buildings where the digital retailer could rent temporary offices.

The developer even printed a children's book promoting the local community and the diverse population of young workers and mailed it to Amazon execs.

Van Amburgh said the developers were ready to move quickly on the first phase of Amazon's Dallas HQ2.

"In 27 to 30 months, we were going to have phase one ready — about 1.5 million square feet," he said. "We proved to them we could do it in the time they needed it."

And cheaper, too.

KDC officials said the cost of real estate, labor, housing — everything, really — is going to be much more expensive in New York and Northern Virginia.

"Their 50,000 jobs are going to be at a much higher expense level," Van Amburgh said. "I felt like we gave them everything they wanted. At the end of the day, it was a war for talent."

The developers echoed statements by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and other business leaders that Texas needs to ramp up its educational investment.

"This experience was good for our whole community," said KDC senior vice president Michael Alost. "We've all had to rethink and look hard at how Dallas stacks up."

And now that Amazon has picked D.C. and N.Y.C. over Big D, KDC is ready to move on to other big deals.

KDC is one of the country's most experienced corporate office developers. In the last five years, the firm has built almost 11 million square feet of offices to house 37,500 workers.

In North Texas, KDC-built corporate campuses include those for State Farm Insurance, JP Morgan Chase, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas.

"We are getting ready for the next game," Van Amburgh said. "We want to see what companies want to take advantage of what we learned here with Amazon. In losing Amazon, we are actually going to get other groups that are going to want to come here."

And don't be surprised to see Amazon back in play in Dallas again in the future.

"I would guess if Amazon stays on the current trajectory of growth, within five years we will have a very nice facility with them right here in Dallas," Van Amburgh said. "We did nothing but enhance our chances to have them grow here in the future."

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