Amazon to announce the location of its second HQ by the end of 2018

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos at the Economic Club of Washington DC’s “Milestone Celebration Dinner.”REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said on Thursday that the company would announce the location of its second headquarters by the end of the year.
• There is currently huge amounts of speculation about the location of the second headquarters, with insiders speculating that it could be northern Virginia.
• Whichever location plays host to the Amazon’s new headquarters will have to deal with unexpected consequences, such as an influx of workers and a probable rise in housing prices.
• Some believe Amazon’s primary headquarters in Seattle drove a spike in house prices and gentrification.

Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos said that the company will announce the location of its new headquarters (otherwise known as HQ2) before the end of the year.

“We will announce a decision before the end of this year, so we have made tremendous progress, the team is worker their butts off on it, and we will get there,” he said, speaking at the Economic Club of Washington on Thursday.

You can watch Bezos talking about HQ2 at 11:53 in this video:

Amazon previously announced a shortlist of 20 locations as candidates, and recently signs have pointed towards Crystal City in northern Virginia as topping that list. Bezos gave no hints on Thursday however.

Wherever ends up as Amazon’s home away from home, its housing market will likely be transformed by the tech giant’s presence, and not necessarily for the better. Seattle, Amazon’s current base of operations, has seen a rapid increase in average rental and home prices.

Amazon also famously opposed Seattle officials over the so-called “head tax,” which was initially approved by Seattle’s city council and would have introduced an annual corporate tax of roughly $275 for each full-time employee. The tax was intended to raise funds to help fight homelessness in the city, and would have had a disproportionate impact on Amazon, the city’s biggest employer. However the tax was blocked in June, and many viewed Amazon as having got its way after it signalled that it might take its business elsewhere.