News of Amazon selecting a home for HQ2 has been taking news headlines across the country by storm. Last September the e-commerce giant announced they would be choosing a city in North America to build HQ2, a campus that would be equivalent to Seattle. Fast forward 14 months and they’ve finally made a decision.
New York City and Northern Virginia will each be home to a new headquarters. I know exactly what you’re asking: How could they have chosen two cities, when they planned to build one HQ2?
After a long deciding process the company decided that splitting the new HQ between two cities would solve many of the problems seen in Seattle. According to The Wall Street Journal, recruitment was a large deciding factor. Splitting the campus will allow the company to attract workers to separate areas of the country which will alleviate potential infrastructure issues with transit and housing.
So, what does this mean for Seattle?
Our wonderful city has become a hub for tech companies, both large and small. We will continue to flourish in terms of jobs and opportunity so Amazon opening offices in other regions won’t impact the city as much as you might think.
The local economy is stronger than ever as companies in the region are announcing plans to grow. Facebook just announced a huge expansion in Seattle and on the Eastside, Expedia has plans to move to Interbay and expand, Tableau leased space in Kirkland and Microsoft is rebirthing it’s Redmond campus. These are just a few of the companies who are growing.
Overall, Amazon’s expansion is exciting, and it will be a process to watch as they construct their HQ2 offices using a new strategy based on what was learned in their growth in the Emerald City. They will bring prosperous jobs to new cities and offer new opportunities.
You can read more about Amazon’s announcement on The Wall Street Journal and Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty.