Seattle-based Amazon is expanding its presence in San Diego, leasing nearly 107K SF at Alexandria Real Estate’s new Campus Pointe office complex in University City, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The space can accommodate up to 500 office and engineering employees. The e-commerce giant currently has a small office space in Solana Beach and distribution facilities throughout the region. This lease represents the largest expansion by a major tech company into the San Diego market so far.

Google opened a 60K SF office in Sorrento Mesa last year, following acquisitions of local startups, but this move appears to be more substantial. Amazon’s career site lists 49 new job openings locally, which involve machine learning/data science, game development, software engineering and other fields. Last year Amazon hired San Diego game executive John Smedley, developer of Sony’s online EverQuest multiplayer franchise.

Both Kevin Carroll, who heads the local software trade association Tech San Diego, and San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. President/CEO Mark Cafferty suggest large tech companies are coming here for the talent. UC San Diego graduates about 10,000 students annually, and awards three times as many science, technology, engineering and mathematics degrees than the national average, according to BestColleges.com.

Amazon has announced plans to build a second headquarters and issued a request for proposals from cities nationwide, with an Oct. 19 deadline. San Diego is among the cities bidding on Amazon HQ2, which would provide up to 50,000 local jobs. Among the strengths the city will emphasize are a highly educated workforce with a large pool of tech professionals and a great quality of life.