Who would of thought that out of all the Amazon HQ2 finalists, Crystal City, VA would be chosen for one of the two new Amazon HQ2 locations? It has been over a year since Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, made the first Amazon HQ2 announcement that the e-commerce giant was looking for a city to be the home of their second headquarters. With a year of back and forth debate and shortening the list to 20 finalists, Amazon finally decided to split their HQ2 between two locations. Amazon will be moving to Crystal City, VA and Long Island City, NY.
Even though the decision was made to split the headquarters into two locations, this is still a win for the Crystal City and the Alexandria, VA community. But what does this decision mean for the residents and businesses? Well we have broken down the Amazon HQ2 decision and what the impact will be for Northern Virginia.
Why Crystal City Was A Amazon HQ2 Finalist
Crystal City was up against some heavy hitters during the decision-making period. Among the HQ2 finalists were 20 cities including Atlanta, Boston and Chicago. Bezos wanted a place that could function at the same level as their initial headquarters in Seattle, WA. So how did Crystal City win over the retail giant?
Looking back into the 1960’s, Crystal City was a place with the ambition to become a commercial hub for businesses and residents. The cities original developer, Robert Smith, saw the potential of the city. He replaced scrap yards and industrial plants with commercial buildings containing plenty of office space. As time went on the city eventually became a hub for government offices. The reason being because of the close proximity to Washington DC. Unfortunately, within the last 20 years government agencies and businesses began leaving, leading Crystal City into a decline without a residential or commercial identity.
So, what influenced Amazon to choose what seemed to be a washed-up area?
Well, Crystal City has plenty of vacant property and real estate available which can be easily absorbed by Amazon. In addition, there are a vast amount of government agencies not too far down the road. This would enable Amazon to extend their services to the government with the idea that all their information can be stored right down the road from where they operate. The vacant real estate can house Amazon’s cloud storage facilities and has the size to be able to handle government information as well.
The strategic location is the reason Amazon chose Crystal City to be one of their two locations. Being so close to the Washington, DC area opens the opportunity to recruit some of the best minds in the United States. Amazon has always pursued the smartest people that have the tech talent to work for their company and with Washington, DC at their disposal, the number of candidates is endless. On top of this, Crystal City is right down the road from the Reagan National Airport, which has direct flights to Amazon’s original home of Seattle, WA.
New Amazon Jobs In Virginia
So, what is going to be the impact of having Amazon’s HQ2 move into Crystal City’s backyard? Well it’s worth knowing that Amazon stated that each location will eventually have over 25,000 Amazon employees. There is going to be a huge fluctuation of people moving to Northern Virginia. Crystal City residents themselves will have the opportunity to apply for positions within the corporation. The projected salary for individuals with Amazon HQ2 jobs is estimated to be around $100,000…a year creating an attraction to work in the corporation. Along with that, having a tech giant in your community opens the door for many entrepreneurs to take their shot in the area. New businesses will likely be on the rise.
So, as a Alexandria and Arlington resident you can expect some changes to your daily lifestyle. With the addition of Amazon HQ2 there will be an increase in new business which can result in an increase of home values. The government has even offered to help pay for infrastructure updates throughout the city including local transit. The attraction to live in proximity to Crystal City will increase and the area that seemed to be on a steady decline might just become the commercial and residential hub it always wanted to be.
What The Amazon HQ2 Location Means For Moving Companies
Not just moving and storage companies, but all other industries should be excited about the Amazon HQ2 location moving to Northern Virginia. In the coming months, when the project officially begins, Northern Virginia should be expecting an economic boom throughout the greater area. New job openings will be available to not only to Alexandria residents but as well as outsiders throughout Northern Virginia, Washington DC and Maryland.
Specifically, for moving companies, new Amazon employees will be looking for permanent homes to start their new lives in. As they search with their families, local moving companies throughout the Northern Virginia area will be well prepared to move out of town employees into their new home and settle within the community.
Moving and storage companies will see an increase of people moving to or from the Crystal City area. As the buildings begin to fill, the attraction to live close by will only increase. Movers will begin to see more and more moving requests to or from the area. As Northern Virginia movers we are welcoming the new employees and potential residents with open arms. The Amazon HQ2 announcement is nothing but great for the local community. With Amazon coming to town we will see an increase in business and population.
