NYC, Arlington To Split Amazon's Second Headquarters
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/AP) – Sorry Los Angeles, you "didn't get the part".
Seattle-based Amazon announced Tuesday that it will split its much-anticipated second headquarters between New York City and Arlington, Virginia.
Its New York location will be in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, while its Arlington offices will be located in an area called National Landing. Each site will get 25,000 jobs.
In addition, the online retailer said it will open an operations hub in Nashville, creating 5,000 jobs.
In January, Amazon announced that Los Angeles was among the top 20 finalists being considered for the new headquarters. It was the only California city to make the list of finalists. San Diego and Chula Vista had also been in the running.
The decision ended an intense competition between North American cities to win Amazon and its promise of 50,000 new jobs with an average annual pay of more than $100,000. Some locations tried to stand out with stunts, but Amazon made clear that it really wanted incentives, like tax breaks and grants. The company received 238 proposals before narrowing the list to 20.
Amazon's potential move to L.A. was met with some opposition. In October 2017, the California Business and Industrial Alliance, a San Fernando Valley-based trade association, took out a full page ad in USA Today with the message: "Dear Amazon: Our Weather Is Nice. Our Business Climate Is Not." The ad went on to urge Amazon to help reform California's labor laws if the company decided to locate its headquarters in the state.
The L.A. County Economic Development Corporation released a statement Tuesday in response to Amazon's announcement. It read, in part:
"Companies with global aspirations often choose to locate in Los Angeles, and while some were surprised by Amazon's decision to include Los Angeles in its list of 20 finalist regions, it made perfect sense to us because we know our deep and culturally diverse talent pool, fast growing high tech sector, globally connected logistics industry, world-renowned creativity, and unparalleled quality of life are all factors that set Los Angeles apart for market leaders like Amazon.
"While Amazon has chosen to build its HQ2 elsewhere, the company is already a huge and very fast growing employer in the LA region and we expect to see that growth continue. With Amazon Studios in Culver City, a corporate office and newly acquired Ring in Santa Monica, numerous Whole Foods and Amazon Book Stores throughout our communities (with Amazon Go stores on the way), and many distribution and fulfillment centers in greater LA, Amazon already employs thousands throughout our region and those numbers are growing rapidly as Angelinos employed at those Amazon operations continue to help define the company's offerings and power its growth."
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
