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Just a stones throw away from Washington DC, imagine that. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that Amazon is in talks to do billions of dollars worth of work with the

Just a stones throw away from Washington DC, imagine that. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that Amazon is in talks to do billions of dollars worth of work with the DOD and that the location choice of the second headquarters might have a lot to do with that.

theDoug 8y ago
Yeah, congratulations to everyone who called it ages ago or pointed out that a CEO is going to put HQ2 near an already established home. Good work on 6+ months of press and making cities embarrass themselves for what seemed obvious from the start. https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/real-estate/news/a9234/jeff-bezos-house-washington-dc/ https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/real-estate/news/a...
- Deimorz 8y ago
  Scott Galloway was pretty confident that it was always intended to be in Washington, partially because of Jeff Bezos already owning a house there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HyiY_m_YxI&t=542 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HyiY_m_YxI&t=542 I recommend watching the actual talk, but there are a few sections of it summarized (including some about Amazon HQ2) in this article: https://www.recode.net/2018/9/19/17878766/scott-galloway-predictions-amazon-hq2-apple-retail-code-commerce https://www.recode.net/2018/9/19/17878766/scott-galloway-pre...
  - BurningFrog 8y ago
    The richest man on Earth can buy any number of houses wherever Amazon builds an office.
    - lberk 8y ago
      It's got nothing to do with whether or not Bezos can buy a house in a given location. It has to do with examining the existing incentives that led Bezos to buy a home there in the first place, and applying that logic to the requirements of HQ2.
- Spooky23 8y ago
  They got a ton of value — in my area they used the dopey package that the local economic development dopes put together to quickly extract concessions for a distribution center.
- lgregg 8y ago
  JB has had a home there which he’s been renovating to host large Gatsby-esk parties. It wouldn’t be surprising to see HQ2 there. I also foresee a strong potential he’ll turn into a Koch-esk political operative for his political positions; or, He might just make a run for the Presidency in several election cycles from now.
- siruncledrew 8y ago
  It seemed like the leader after 3/20 location choices were in the DC area (Montgomery County, DC, Northern Virginia). DC and Montgomery were kinda thrown in there to make it look like they could be contenders, but logistically Northern Virginia makes the most sense. It’s near metros, near IAD and Reagan airports, has land available for a large campus, has a lot of offices of other businesses doing work for the government, is a fairly rich suburban commuter area.
dhcgbgjb 8y ago
Also, Bezos’s interests in Blue Origin and the Washington Post. Oh, and he has a mansion in DC: https://www.washingtonian.com/2018/04/22/inside-jeff-bezos-dc-life/ https://www.washingtonian.com/2018/04/22/inside-jeff-bezos-d...
- officialchicken 8y ago
  Or it could be that AWS contract for the Pentagon... literally across the street (highway) from Crystal City (Pentagon City).
  - qntmfred 8y ago
    OR...Bezos’s interests in Blue Origin and the Washington Post
hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
Crystal City really has so much going for it: 1. As you point out, right next to Pentagon and federal government. 2. Good transportation: right on the Metro and literally across the street from National Airport. 3. If you're going to have 2 headquarters, having them be on opposite coasts makes sense. 4. And I think another one that is pretty unique to Crystal City is that Amazon and their employees definitely want to be in a downtown, urban environment. However, most of the other cities on the list were either extremely crowded downtown, available sites were actually more out in the 'burbs, or the cities were far down in what a lot of people would consider "2nd tier" (or 3rd tier) cities. Crystal City is basically an urban suburb of DC that you could easily see having a great "vibe" for an HQ2, but still has room for Amazon to build out.
- tomohawk 8y ago
  > 2. Good transportation Surely, you jest. Yeah, it's on a metro line, but hardly anyone lives near a metro line. That area is consistently rated as the #1 or #2 worst traffic in the country for years.
  - CalRobert 8y ago
    Sounds like good transportation with terrible urban planning.
    - CamperBob2 8y ago
      Yes, it's always inconvenient and disillusioning when people refuse to live where "urban planners" think they should live.
      - mikeash 8y ago
        Demand for Metro-convenient housing is enormous. Builders are having trouble keeping up.
      - CalRobert 8y ago
        That would make sense if urban planners were the ones telling people not to live near transit stations, but it's generally existing residents opposing new housing. Though, perhaps to your point, I also am not a fan of almost all planning. The nicest places to live, walk, etc. tend to be ones that arose before planning was widespread. Of course, they existed before the car, too.
buboard 8y ago
Bezos for president 2020? Running mate Zuckerberg?
- alistproducer2 8y ago
  No thanks.
- repsilat 8y ago
  Bezos obviously knows how to run a company, but the only "brand" he has is (I think unfairly) "exploitative capitalism". If Bloomberg can't be president Bezos probably can't either. And probably wouldn't want to, to be honest. Zuckerberg might want to, but he's universally despised on both sides of American politics, so no chance there. (Not to mention that VP picks are normally used to broaden the ticket's appeal, not double down on it...)
  - meddlepal 8y ago
    I don't really see "exploitative capitalism" as being a problem for Bezos. As our current president has pointed out, it's just smart business. In our current political climate that will probably be lapped up by someone.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

theDoug 8y ago

Yeah, congratulations to everyone who called it ages ago or pointed out that a CEO is going to put HQ2 near an already established home. Good work on 6+ months of press and making cities embarrass themselves for what seemed obvious from the start. https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/real-estate/news/a9234/jeff-bezos-house-washington-dc/ https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/real-estate/news/a...

Deimorz 8y ago
Scott Galloway was pretty confident that it was always intended to be in Washington, partially because of Jeff Bezos already owning a house there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HyiY_m_YxI&t=542 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HyiY_m_YxI&t=542 I recommend watching the actual talk, but there are a few sections of it summarized (including some about Amazon HQ2) in this article: https://www.recode.net/2018/9/19/17878766/scott-galloway-predictions-amazon-hq2-apple-retail-code-commerce https://www.recode.net/2018/9/19/17878766/scott-galloway-pre...
- BurningFrog 8y ago
  The richest man on Earth can buy any number of houses wherever Amazon builds an office.
  - lberk 8y ago
    It's got nothing to do with whether or not Bezos can buy a house in a given location. It has to do with examining the existing incentives that led Bezos to buy a home there in the first place, and applying that logic to the requirements of HQ2.
Spooky23 8y ago
They got a ton of value — in my area they used the dopey package that the local economic development dopes put together to quickly extract concessions for a distribution center.
lgregg 8y ago
JB has had a home there which he’s been renovating to host large Gatsby-esk parties. It wouldn’t be surprising to see HQ2 there. I also foresee a strong potential he’ll turn into a Koch-esk political operative for his political positions; or, He might just make a run for the Presidency in several election cycles from now.
siruncledrew 8y ago
It seemed like the leader after 3/20 location choices were in the DC area (Montgomery County, DC, Northern Virginia). DC and Montgomery were kinda thrown in there to make it look like they could be contenders, but logistically Northern Virginia makes the most sense. It’s near metros, near IAD and Reagan airports, has land available for a large campus, has a lot of offices of other businesses doing work for the government, is a fairly rich suburban commuter area.

dhcgbgjb 8y ago

Also, Bezos’s interests in Blue Origin and the Washington Post. Oh, and he has a mansion in DC: https://www.washingtonian.com/2018/04/22/inside-jeff-bezos-dc-life/ https://www.washingtonian.com/2018/04/22/inside-jeff-bezos-d...

officialchicken 8y ago
Or it could be that AWS contract for the Pentagon... literally across the street (highway) from Crystal City (Pentagon City).
- qntmfred 8y ago
  OR...Bezos’s interests in Blue Origin and the Washington Post

hn_throwaway_99 8y ago

Crystal City really has so much going for it: 1. As you point out, right next to Pentagon and federal government. 2. Good transportation: right on the Metro and literally across the street from National Airport. 3. If you're going to have 2 headquarters, having them be on opposite coasts makes sense. 4. And I think another one that is pretty unique to Crystal City is that Amazon and their employees definitely want to be in a downtown, urban environment. However, most of the other cities on the list were either extremely crowded downtown, available sites were actually more out in the 'burbs, or the cities were far down in what a lot of people would consider "2nd tier" (or 3rd tier) cities. Crystal City is basically an urban suburb of DC that you could easily see having a great "vibe" for an HQ2, but still has room for Amazon to build out.

tomohawk 8y ago
> 2. Good transportation Surely, you jest. Yeah, it's on a metro line, but hardly anyone lives near a metro line. That area is consistently rated as the #1 or #2 worst traffic in the country for years.
- CalRobert 8y ago
  Sounds like good transportation with terrible urban planning.
  - CamperBob2 8y ago
    Yes, it's always inconvenient and disillusioning when people refuse to live where "urban planners" think they should live.
    - mikeash 8y ago
      Demand for Metro-convenient housing is enormous. Builders are having trouble keeping up.
    - CalRobert 8y ago
      That would make sense if urban planners were the ones telling people not to live near transit stations, but it's generally existing residents opposing new housing. Though, perhaps to your point, I also am not a fan of almost all planning. The nicest places to live, walk, etc. tend to be ones that arose before planning was widespread. Of course, they existed before the car, too.

buboard 8y ago

Bezos for president 2020? Running mate Zuckerberg?

alistproducer2 8y ago
No thanks.
repsilat 8y ago
Bezos obviously knows how to run a company, but the only "brand" he has is (I think unfairly) "exploitative capitalism". If Bloomberg can't be president Bezos probably can't either. And probably wouldn't want to, to be honest. Zuckerberg might want to, but he's universally despised on both sides of American politics, so no chance there. (Not to mention that VP picks are normally used to broaden the ticket's appeal, not double down on it...)
- meddlepal 8y ago
  I don't really see "exploitative capitalism" as being a problem for Bezos. As our current president has pointed out, it's just smart business. In our current political climate that will probably be lapped up by someone.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]