Reports: Amazon to split second headquarters into 2 locations

CRYSTAL CITY, Va. - Amazon plans to split its new second headquarters into two locations, according to multiple reports.

Numerous cities have been bidding for the online sales giant's second location - including Crystal City in Virginia. Amazon announced back in January it had narrowed its search for the location of its second headquarters to 20 cities.

The New York Times is reporting that Amazon is closing in on a deal to have HQ2 in Crystal City and in New York City - in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, according to people familiar with the discussions.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon may make an announcement this week.

Most of the cities that made the shortlist were located along the East Coast and in the Midwest. D.C., Northern Virginia and Montgomery County in Maryland are among the 20 finalists. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser have each launched an effort to land the online-retail behemoth in the DMV.

The D.C. region is seen as a favorite to land HQ2 as many drew lines between Bezos' connections to the District. Bezos owns the Washington Post and a home in the prominent Kalorama neighborhood.

The rumored front-runner location in Northern Virginia is in Crystal City. Amazon is already familiar with Northern Virginia as it has data centers nearby in Ashburn, Sterling, Chantilly, Manassas and Haymarket.

The company stipulated that it was seeking to be near a metropolitan area with more than a million people; be able to attract top technical talent; be within 45 minutes of an international airport; have direct access to mass transit; and be able to expand the headquarters to as much as 8 million square feet in the next decade.

Amazon has also made it very clear that it wants tax breaks, grants and many other incentives.
While Amazon's rise has been applauded by many, it has not been without local critics in Seattle who say the influx of mostly well-heeled tech workers caused housing prices to skyrocket, clogged the streets with traffic and changed the city for the worse. Opponents have also derided the competition for Amazon's new headquarters as corporate welfare for one of the world's richest companies.

The Associated Press Contributed to this report.