Online giant Amazon wraps up search for new headquarters
Amazon has set its sights on two of the nation’s largest and most powerful metro areas, announcing it had chosen a buzzy New York neighbourhood and a suburb of Washington for its new headquarters.
The online shopping giant ended its 14-month-long competition for second headquarters by selecting Long Island City, Queens, and Arlington, Virginia, as the joint winners. Both are waterfront communities away from overcrowded business districts.
The reason Amazon gave is they are best suited to attract the highskilled workers the company wants. The two cities will each get 25,000 jobs that Amazon says will be paid an average of $150,000 a year.
But the communities will pay for it. New York is forking over more than US$1.5 billion ($2.21b) in tax credits and other incentives, while Arlington is offering about a third of that — US$573 million. The hope is Amazon will attract other companies and boost the local economies. But while many see it as an opportunity, not everyone is sold on the idea.
“Offering massive corporate welfare from scarce public resources to one of the wealthiest corporations in the world at a time of great need in our state is just wrong,” said New York State Senator Michael Gianaris and New York City councilman Jimmy Van Bramer.
Amazon, which started as an online bookstore two decades ago, has grown to a behemoth that had nearly $180b in revenue last year. It now owns well-known brands, including Whole Foods and online shoe-seller Zappos. It makes movies and TV shows, runs an advertising business and offers cloud computing services to corporations and government agencies.
The company has more than 610,000 employees worldwide, making it the second largest US-based, publicly-traded employer behind Walmart. But it was the prospect of 50,000 jobs that led 238 communities across North America to pitch Amazon on why they should be home to the next headquarters.
New York is the nation’s financial and media powerhouse and has been working to attract technology companies. Google already has more than 7000 workers in the city and, according to media reports, is looking to add 12,000 more in coming years.
Arlington is across the Potomac River from Washington. Large government contractors have offices and lobbying operations there. Being near the nation’s capital could help Amazon with lobbying efforts as the company faces scrutiny from politicians.
Amazon said it will spend $5b between both locations on construction and other projects. It said hiring will start next year.