SEATTLE — Amazon will split its second headquarters between Long Island City in New York and National Landing in Northern Virginia.
The online retailer made the official announcement Tuesday morning.
The decision ends an intense competition between North American cities for the company's second headquarters. Some locations tried to stand out with stunts, but Amazon made clear that it really wanted incentives, like tax breaks and grants.
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Amazon also had sought to be near a metropolitan area with more than a million people, among other criteria.
The company received 238 proposals before narrowing the list to 20 in January.
Amazon will invest $5 billion and and create more than 50,000 jobs across the two locations.
“We are excited to build new headquarters in New York City and Northern Virginia,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. “These two locations will allow us to attract world-class talent that will help us to continue inventing for customers for years to come. The team did a great job selecting these sites, and we look forward to becoming an even bigger part of these communities.”
Hiring at both headquarters will begin in 2019.
The headquarters in Long Island City will initially be approximately 4 million square feet. There will be an opportunity for the company to expand to 8 million square feet. Amazon will receive performance-based incentives of $1.525 billion based on the company's creation of 25,000 jobs in the city. That includes a refundable tax credit of up to $1.2 billion calculated as a percentage of the salaries Amazon will pay employees over 10 years. The company will also receive a cash grant from Empire State Development of $325 million based on the square footage of buildings occupied in the next decade.
“When I took office, I said we would build a new New York State – one that is fiscally responsible and fosters a business climate that is attractive to growing companies and the industries of tomorrow. We’ve delivered on those promises and more, and today, with Amazon committing to expand its headquarters in Long Island City, New York can proudly say that we have attracted one of the largest, most competitive economic development investments in U.S. history,” said Governor Andrew M. Cuomo of New York. “With an average salary of $150,000 per year for the tens of thousands of new jobs Amazon is creating in Queens, economic opportunity and investment will flourish for the entire region. Amazon understands that New York has everything the company needs to continue its growth. The State’s more than $100 billion transportation infrastructure program – the most ambitious in our history – combined with our education initiatives like K-12 tech education and the first-in-the-nation Excelsior Scholarship program, will help ensure long-term success and an unrivaled talent pool for Amazon.”
The headquarters in Northern Virginia will be similar size. Amazon will receive performance-based incentives of $573 million. That includes a workforce cash grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia of up to $550 million based on each job created over 12 years.
In addition to the split headquarters, Amazon announced a new Operations Center of Excellence in Nashville, Tennessee. The hub will create more than 5,000 jobs.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
