New York City's skyline
Amazon reportedly has come to a decision about the location for its second headquarters, following several leaks earlier this month about its thinking. Sources have told numerous publications that it has decided on Crystal City, Va., and the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York City.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that some of its sources told it that other cities may also receive major projects, “but it wasn't clear what form they might take or where they would go.”
The company is expected to announce the decision on Tuesday and government officials from both locations will hold events for their respective announcements, the WSJ also said.
A Lessened Impact
Amazon's decision to split its headquarters will clearly lessen the economic impact that a move to these two cities will have. Instead of the much sought-after prize of 50,000 new jobs, the two areas will each gain 25,000 new workers. Amazon reportedly made that decision in order to be able to attract the best tech talent.
The upside of splitting the headquarters between two cities also means that their infrastructure and local housing markets will not be overly taxed.
No Hipster Neighborhoods Here
The choice of Crystal City and Long Island City is putting to rest the theory that Amazon would want to be in a neighborhood with numerous amenities for its workforce.
An analysis of the qualities that the two cities share by Brookings notes that they are both located outside of the local CBD and thus are less constrained by local zoning regulations–giving Amazon more flexibilty to design its headquarters. As for amenities, “…it's not obvious that LIC or Crystal City would crack the top five hipster neighborhood rankings, partly because they're so dominated by large commercial buildings,” author Jenny Schuetz writes.
However, the lure of Amazon and its 25,000 workers will surely draw in microbreweries and pour-over coffee bars over time, she adds.
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
