When Amazon announced earlier this year they were looking for a place to host their second headquarters, every major U.S. city seemed to jump at the chance to offer up incentives for the opportunity. In October, 238 North American cities submitted proposals for HQ2, including heavy-hitters such as Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco-Oakland.

There were a lot of enticement packages offered but few stood out quite like the one that Chula Vista offered. The second-largest city in San Diego County overshadowed bids from Downtown San Diego, Mission Valley, and Otay Mesa by offering a $400 million incentive and development package, 85 acres of free, city-owned land, an eight-million-square-foot, “shovel-ready” site, and an offer for Amazon to partner on the "world's first binational university.”

The likelihood that Amazon would ever choose Chula Vista for its second headquarters was always slim to none, but perhaps that’s what made the offer so savvy. The city banked on people noticing just how willing the Southern California city was to play ball with major corporations looking for a new home and that’s exactly what has happened, per the San Diego Union-Tribune.

“From a marketing engagement (and) public relations standpoint,” consultant Gabriela Dow recently told the City Council, “we really feel like Chula Vista has already won.”

Chula Vista’s proposal was written up in major publications across the U.S. and Europe, touted as “particularly brazen” by The Economist. Consultants also noted the power of a television segment and podcast discussion from KING 5, a Seattle TV station that put the city’s story right in Amazon’s backyard.

While they wait for Amazon to make its decision, the city and its consultants tell SDUT that they’re reaching out to Silicon Valley tech companies who might be looking to relocate due to rising costs. They’re also hoping to appeal to major sports organizations to take advantage of the city’s Elite Athlete Training Center.