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A person familiar with the plans says Amazon will split its second headquarters between Long Island City in New York and Crystal City in northern Virginia. The online retailer is expected to make an official announcement later Tuesday. (Nov. 13)
AP

The Amazon HQ2 sweepstakes is apparently over and the expected winners are New York City and Crystal City, Virginia.

The Seattle e-commerce giant is expected to officially announce the selections at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday, according to multiple media reports.

That will culminate a 14-month process during which Amazon received more than 230 proposals from cities seeking to land the prize and the expected 50,000 jobs that it would bring.

Amazon’s selection of New York City and Northern Virginia as complementary homes for the online retailer’s split headquarters was reported late Monday by The Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.

Subsequently, The New York Times reported late Monday Amazon had chosen Queens, a borough on Long Island, as the New York site, with Crystal City, Virginia, which is located in Arlington, Virginia, just southwest of Washington, D.C., as the second HQ2 location, citing a person familiar with the situation.

The Associated Press on Tuesday also reported that Queens, New York, and Crystal City, Virginia, were Amazon’s selections, based on a person familiar with Amazon’s plans.

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After considering 20 cities including Boston, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Austin, Texas and Indianapolis, Amazon selected two East coast cities to complement its Seattle headquarters. 

Amazon already employs 2,500 people and has a tech hub in New York, the company says. About 1,800 people currently work in advertising, fashion and publishing for Amazon in New York, according to The Times.

Northern Virginia had emerged in recent weeks as a frontrunner, as the region offered up several candidate sites a short drive from the nation’s Capitol. Washington and neighboring Montgomery County, Maryland, had also made the cut of the final 20 cities back in January.

Crystal City, Virginia, is a sliver of land nestled just south of the Pentagon and west of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. 

Founder Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post newspaper, recently purchased a $23 million mansion in the Washington area, the largest private residence in the nation’s capital.

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