Amazon just revisited these cities as HQ2 decision imminent
"The Cyber Guy" Kurt Knutsson on the competition for Amazon's second headquarters.
The wait is almost over.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said he plans to announce the finalist for the company’s second headquarters by the end of the year and according to the Wall Street Journal report, it could be one of five cities.
According to the report, Amazon executives have visited New York City, Newark, N.J., and Chicago over the past couple months. Additionally, the company has been following up with other locations, including Miami and the Washington, D.C. area, all five of which are among the 20 finalists for its $5 billion second-headquarters project.
However, other cities, like Raleigh, N.C., haven’t heard from the e-commerce giant in months, notes the Journal.
Last month, Bezos told a sold-out crowd at the Economic Club of Washington that his team has made tremendous progress in its year-long hunt for a second headquarters and they will announce the decision before the end of the year.
“The team's working their butts off on it and we will get there,” Bezos said.
While an Amazon spokesperson did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment on the report, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding Chicago as a top contender.
In August, the Chicago Tribune reported that representatives for the company made a second visit to the Windy City to check out a new 62-acre development site called The 78.
However, last month, news that Amazon joined the D.C. Chamber of Commerce fueled speculation that the company could be narrowing in on that area.
So much so, that last week, the New York Times reported that many analysts believe that Northern Virginia checks the most boxes when it comes the ideal spot. It noted that the area is already home to Amazon’s cloud computing division and to top it off, Bezos, already owns a massive mansion in the area and the biggest newspaper—The Washington Post.
Still, sources told the Journal that no final decision has been made and the company is still in negotiations with several cities.
In January, Amazon announced its 20 finalists after receiving more than 230 proposals from cities, towns, and regions across the country.