Amazon is reportedly choosing two cities, not one, for its second headquarters, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) is working on a deal to move into both the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York City and the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, VA, according to a report from The New York Times, which cited two unnamed people it says are familiar with the discussions. The e-commerce giant has been on a road show for more than a year, meeting with leaders around North America as it determines which major city it might pick to locate its second headquarters, which it has been calling HQ2.
Before this week, most predictions envisioned Amazon would designate one metropolitan area as its second headquarters. Jed Kolko, chief economist of Indeed, told The New York Times that picking two cities to significantly expand its existing operations in could pressure one or both of them to offer Amazon an even more enticing package of economic incentives.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Monday that Amazon planned to split its second headquarters evenly between two cities, instead of one as it had previously announced. The company in September 2017 unveiled plans to create a second headquarters where it would create 50,000 jobs, asking cities across the country to apply to be a candidate. It announced 20 finalists in January out of 238 submissions. On Nov. 4, The Journal reported Dallas was still in the running as well.
There have been a few strong reactions to the alleged decision, including Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan calling two locations “branch offices,” according to KIRO-TV reporter Graham Johnson.
