Amazon Chooses New York and Northern Virginia for Additional Headquarters -- 3rd Update
November 12 2018 - 10:52PM
Dow Jones News
By Laura Stevens, Keiko Morris and Katie Honan
New York City and Northern Virginia will be the homes for
Amazon.com Inc.'s second and third headquarters, according to
people familiar with the matter, ending a more than yearlong public
contest that started with 238 candidates and ended with a surprise
split of its so-called HQ2.
The imminent announcement is expected as soon as Tuesday,
according to the people. Other cities may also receive major sites,
some of the people said.
Amazon is dividing the second headquarters evenly between New
York's Long Island City and Arlington County's Crystal City
neighborhoods, which are both located directly across from the
major city centers. The decision effectively gives Amazon a major
presence in three coastal cities.
Amazon declined to comment.
Government officials in both New York and Northern Virginia were
expecting to hold events for announcements on Tuesday, according to
people familiar with the matter.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio discussed the Amazon deal
Monday night during his weekly television appearance, although he
didn't confirm that the city had been officially selected. He was
hopeful that HQ2 would come to New York City. "We're talking about
the single biggest economic development deal in the history of New
York City," he said.
The Wall Street Journal reported about a week ago that Amazon
was in late-stage negotiations with several locations including New
York, Crystal City as well as Dallas. Aside from its HQ2 decision,
Amazon may also announce that other cities have won big projects,
but it wasn't clear what form they might take or where they would
go.
The online retailer began the search across North America in
September 2017, with the aim of creating a second, equal
headquarters to its home base in Seattle. It had said the new
location would house roughly 50,000 jobs and represent billions in
investments.
Amazon narrowed the contest to 20 finalist cities in January,
then asked for reams of data and made whirlwind two-day site
visits, during which cities tried to impress the company's economic
development team.
Then came the big surprise a week ago when the Journal reported
that Amazon planned to split its second headquarters evenly between
two locations rather than picking one city. The change in plans
came after Amazon executives concluded it could recruit more of the
best tech talent if it spread the office over two locations. And by
halving the size, Amazon would help ease potential issues with
housing, transit and other areas where adding tens of thousands of
workers could cause problems.
The decision to split what was deemed one of the largest
economic development projects in recent history triggered a flurry
of criticism about Amazon's original intentions but also fresh
hopes. Some city officials said they would have tailored their
proposals to match that need, while others said they thought it
increased their city's chances.
The split also raised questions about how equal the two new
locations will be with Amazon's current Seattle base, which employs
more than 45,000 people.
Amazon factored in a host of qualifications for the selection of
its new headquarters sites, including access to mass transit,
proximity to an airport with direct flights to and from Seattle and
-- perhaps most important -- a pool of available tech talent
nearby. The company also weighed whether it would be one of the
largest companies in a city, something that might make it a magnet
for the same kind of scrutiny it receives in Seattle over social
problems. Plus, Amazon hoped to show an actual economic impact
through its investments in a new area, highlighting its job
creation abilities.
Some economic development experts scratched their heads at
Amazon's decision to make the process public, which resulted in
complicating factors including a longer-than-usual short list and
speculative real-estate purchases around proposed sites.
It also has brought additional scrutiny to potential incentives
Amazon might receive to locate in certain areas.
Still, the process has resulted in a year of positive publicity,
highlighting Amazon's ability to create jobs and investments, even
as the company has faced critics ranging from President Donald
Trump to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who have called out the
company over issues like wages.
"This was really a platform for Amazon to market its transition
from traditional e-commerce" into a major tech company creating
jobs across industries, said John Boyd, principal at site-selection
consultancy the Boyd Co. "It was also a platform for cities to
promote themselves to a global audience."
The choice of its new office sites follows Amazon's September
announcement that it would raise its minimum wage for warehouse
workers to $15 an hour. Amazon also has announced major hiring
plans over the past year as it builds out more warehouses and
expands its U.S. workforce.
Amazon's decision leaves a group of cities that expended months
of resources and time without a clear reward. Some cities have said
the process raised awareness for other potential
economic-development deals. Amazon has said it might consider some
also-rans for other projects.
--John McKinnon and Jimmy Vielkind contributed to this
article.
Write to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com and Keiko Morris
at Keiko.Morris@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 12, 2018 22:37 ET (03:37 GMT)
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