RENSSELAER, N.Y. — The Capital Region's best hope to lure Amazon's corporate headquarters is on either side of the Hudson River.

Albany and Rensselaer on Thursday submitted a joint proposal for Amazon's "HQ2" contest. The application, drawn up by Albany's Center for Economic Growth, makes use of 75 acres on either side of the river: Albany's downtown parking lot space near the bus stop, and Rensselaer's De Laet's Landing site plus planned land acquisitions to the north. Renderings for the proposal even show a flashy new footbridge spanning the Hudson between the twin sites.

Both cities are confident they can attract Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who announced earlier this year that Amazon would seek a second American city to build its second corporate headquarters. The site is also likely to include some sort of warehousing, with a total of 50,000 jobs expected for wherever the $5 billion project lands.

"We have the land. We've got the spot," said Rensselaer mayor Dan Dwyer on Thursday.  ""Hopefully they'll take a look at it, and approve it."

The project would not conflict with the tentatively-planned Albany-Rensselaer Gondola, which would be suspended between the rail station and Empire State Plaza. Dwyer says the gondola, currently being explored by McLaren Group, is required to be strung up south of the planned development site.

If the Albany-Rensselaer bid does not win Amazon's approval, project designers say it will still prove to other big businesses that the Capital Region is ready for creative new development.