Amazon

HQ2 was announced in September 2017, when Amazon submitted a request for proposals to governments and economic development organizations, asking for tax breaks and other incentives to entice the company. Amazon claimed that it intended to spend $5 billion on construction and that HQ2 would house 50,000 workers when completed. More than 200 cities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States eventually offered tax breaks, expedited construction approvals, promises of infrastructure improvements, new crime-reduction programs, and other incentives.

On January 18, 2018, a shortlist of 20 finalists was announced, after which the candidate localities continued to detail or expand their incentive packages.

On November 13, 2018, Amazon announced that HQ2 would be split into two locations, with 25,000 workers at each: National Landing in Arlington County, Virginia, and Long Island City in Queens, New York City.[6]

Virginia would provide as much as $750 million in taxpayer subsidies.[7]

New York planned to give Amazon tax breaks of at least $1.525 billion, cash grants of $325 million, and other incentives.[8]

In February 2019, Amazon cancelled the New York location after strong opposition from local grassroots organizers, residents, and politicians.[9][10]

The project has drawn criticism as an example of corporate welfare.

Amazon was founded in 1994 in Bellevue, Washington, and leased space in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle. As the company grew, it moved offices around Downtown Seattle, until announcing a move to a purpose-built headquarters campus in the South Lake Union neighborhood, then a light industrial enclave undergoing urban renewal.[11]

By October 2017, Amazon occupied 8.1 million square feet (750,000 m2) of office space in 33 buildings in Seattle, employing 40,000 white-collar workers.