New Amazon HQ Split Between New York and Virginia

Amazon has spent the last year or so waffling around the country in search of prime real estate for its second headquarters. It’s been met with both invitations and resistance wherever it’s gone, as some desire the business boom it’d bring while others worry about it. Finally, though, Amazon has made its decision: the second HQ will be split between Long Island City, a neighborhood near Queens in New York, and Arlington in Virginia.

The choice to split the HQ came from a desire to expand the company’s talent pool. Amazon believes that by offering two work locations, it can attract more people that are local to both areas. Both cities will likely be getting a massive boost in infrastructure and tax revenue, though critics are concerned that it will cause massive shifts in property values and city layout. It’s not an unfounded fear; Arlington in particular is essentially getting an entire new neighborhood just to accommodate Amazon and its staff.

Amazon will also be constructing smaller hubs and fulfillment centers in the cities that bid for the HQ but didn’t make the cut. This will serve as an “investment” of sorts to give the cities at least part of the economic boom they had hoped the HQ would bring.

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5 years ago