In what has become a fanfare for local government officials and tech communities, Amazon's search for a second headquarters finally made some moves on the 238 proposals it received last fall.
Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Montgomery County in Maryland are all on the shortlist of 20 cities that made the cut. (Note: Arlington County, Fairfax and Loundon counties filed a joint bid.) Amazon's second headquarters is expected to be an equal to its Seattle mainstay, creating 50,000 high-paying jobs and investing over $5 billion in the chosen city.
According to a report in The Washington Business Journal, based on a public records request filed by WAMU, the District government offered the following to Amazon:
- Up to $7,500 in relocation costs per worker who moves to D.C.;
- Wage reimbursements up to $30,000 per new job given to a local military vet;
- Five-year corporate franchise tax exemption, capped at $15 million;
- Five-year freeze on property taxes for every building Amazon occupies in D.C., given Amazon makes up half of that building;
- 10-year exemption on personal property taxes;
- Sales tax exemption on investments in qualified new purchase.
However, as WAMU points out, it's still unclear the extent of what the region has offered Amazon to come to the nation's capital. The Northern Virginia countries haven't disclosed any information. The District made the proposed sites public, but not the complete incentive package. Montgomery County only made their bid public to the Bethesda Beat after an open records request, but even still, they've withheld key information.
In the District's bid, the Bower administration offered up four key sights: Anacostia Riverfront, NoMa-Union Station, Capitol Hill East and Shaw-Howard University.
For Montgomery County, this announcement comes as a win for them after Discovery Communications decided to ditch their Silver Spring-based headquarters for New York City.
Overall, the opportunity for Amazon's second headquarters to land in the DMV come after a series of wins — and few loses — for the region. Yelp's East Coast headquarters plan to settle in the District. Nestle will be moving its headquarters from California to Arlington, Va.
Nonetheless, it's fair to say the D.C. metro area is pumped about the announcement:
The DMV demonstrating all we have to offer – our region has three finalists on @Amazon’s shortlist for new HQ. Our people and our global reach are unparalleled -- Amazon would be right at home in the DMV https://t.co/yPmFIPFFFC
— Ted Leonsis (@TedLeonsis) January 18, 2018
“When asked what’s the best city for one of the fastest-growing companies, we answered: #ObviouslyDC.” We are in the top 20 for Amazon’s next HQ2! See my full statement ⬇️ https://t.co/vZvQGgJslA pic.twitter.com/vKSAjniExi
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) January 18, 2018
Tech matters! ? #ObviouslyDC https://t.co/sZrig3QYIV
— OCTO (@OCTODC) January 18, 2018
Here's a list of the 20 finalists in alphabetical order:
- Atlanta, GA
- Austin, TX
- Boston, MA
- Chicago, IL
- Columbus, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Denver, CO
- Indianapolis, IN
- Los Angeles, CA
- Miami, FL
- Montgomery County, MD
- Nashville, TN
- Newark, NJ
- New York City, NY
- Northern Virginia, VA
- Philadelphia, PA
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Raleigh, NC
- Toronto, ON
- Washington D.C.
