By Laura Stevens, Keiko Morris and Katie Honan
Amazon.com Inc. announced Tuesday New York City and a Northern
Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C., would be homes for the
company's second and third headquarters, ending a more than
yearlong public contest that began with 238 candidates and ended
with a split of its so-called HQ2.
Amazon said it will invest $5 billion across the two new offices
that will each have more than 25,000 employees in New York City's
Long Island City and in Arlington, Va., at the National Landing
area, which encompasses Crystal City and is located in the
Washington, D.C., metro area.
The company also said it would create a new operations center in
Nashville with more than 5,000 jobs.
Amazon split HQ2 in half between New York and Northern Virginia
in part because it wanted to recruit enough of the best tech
talent. The decision effectively gives Seattle-based Amazon a major
presence in three coastal hubs that politically lean left, at a
time when tech companies are under scrutiny for their perceived
elitism and liberal social views.
Government officials in both New York and Northern Virginia were
expecting to hold events for announcements later Tuesday.
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.
Amazon's move to New York pits it against rival Google, which is
gearing up for its own expansion in the city. The Wall Street
Journal reported last week that the Alphabet Inc. unit will add
office space for more than 12,000 new workers, an amount nearly
double the search giant's current staffing in the city, people
familiar with the matter said. On Monday night at the Journal's
D.Live tech conference, Google financial chief Ruth Porat confirmed
the company plans to double its New York City staff of 7,000 over a
decade.
The District of Columbia area, which had three locations among
the finalists including Crystal City, was considered a leading
candidate in part because Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has a
second home there and owns the Washington Post.
Crystal City, a 1960s-era office and residential development
close to the Pentagon, has seen its fortunes wane over the past
decade or so, as major employers, including Defense Department and
private-sector tenants, have pulled up stakes.
The neighborhood's sheer size and proximity to Washington,
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Metro stops and other
transportation made it an attractive prospect for Amazon's
ambitious second-headquarters plan, according to people who have
been involved in the discussions. Adding to its appeal, it is also
largely in the hands of a single developer.
A potential downside is the region's notoriously bad traffic,
which would likely require significant new investments, according
to people familiar with the matter. Amazon's impact on housing
could be substantial.
Virginia could be a good fit for Amazon politically, as an
important purple swing state that promises political clout no
matter which party is in power. While the D.C. area lacks New
York's cutting-edge culture, it is big, highly diverse and just
maybe hip enough.
Long Island City, in Queens, was a longtime industrial
neighborhood that is experiencing a residential housing boom, with
more than 16,000 new apartments built since 2006. It is the
fastest-growing community in New York City.
The neighborhood is along the East River and is accessible by
multiple subway lines, the Long Island Rail Road and two ferry
stops. It is also close to La Guardia and John F. Kennedy
International airports.
While the city included four neighborhoods in its original bid,
officials were leaning on Long Island City from the start,
according to people familiar with the process.
Amazon 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 considerations, including whether
it would be one of the largest companies in a city, something that
might make it a magnet for the kind of scrutiny it receives in
Seattle over social problems. Plus, Amazon hoped through its
investments to show an actual economic impact 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 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.
--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 13, 2018 12:18 ET (17:18 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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