Amazon HQ2

Amazon HQ2 is Amazon's corporate headquarters in National Landing (part of Arlington, Virginia) in the Washington metropolitan area, and an expansion of the company's headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Phase I, which currently houses 8,500 employees and has capacity for 14,000 employees, opened in June 2023. Construction on Phase II is paused indefinitely; the company has said that it currently has enough space for its needs. HQ2 was announced in September 2017, when Amazon submitted request for proposals asking for tax breaks and other incentives to entice the company. At that time, 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 offered tax breaks, expedited construction approvals, promises of infrastructure improvements, new crime-reduction programs, and other incentives. In January 2018, a shortlist of 20 finalists was announced. In November 2018, Amazon announced that HQ2 would be split into two locations, eventually reaching 25,000 workers at each: National Landing in Arlington County, Virginia, and Long Island City in Queens, New York City. In February 2019, Amazon cancelled the New York location after strong opposition from local grassroots organizers, residents and politicians, many of whom cited it as an example of corporate welfare. Virginia will provide Amazon with grants of $22,000 per worker with a salary of above $164,000 (as of 2026) that remains in place for 4-5 years as well as a percentage of hotel taxes received over a breakpoint. As of 2026, Amazon has only received $81,000 in taxpayer subsidies, all of which was related to excess hotel taxes generated.