Arlington, Virginia, lured in Amazon with promises of a helipad and a cash grant of up to $550 million
- Amazon has officially announced that it will split its long-awaited HQ2 between Arlington, Virginia and Long Island City, New York.
- Arlington, Virginia, has long been touted as a frontrunner in Amazon's contest.
- In its proposal, Arlington promised the tech giant everything from a helipad to up to $550 million in cash grants.
It's official. Arlington, Virginia, is one of the three spots that won out in Amazon's much-hyped HQ2 contest.
The National Landing area of Arlington will be splitting HQ2 with Long Island City, New York, while a new location in Nashville, Tennessee, will function as an operations hub.
Arlington in particular has long been viewed as a frontrunner in the melee between North American localities.
Read more: Amazon officially announces its HQ2 will be split between New York and Virginia
So what did Arlington offer Amazon in order to seal the deal?
In the official announcement detailing its HQ2 picks, the tech giant included proposals from the county manager and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the agreement:
- Amazon guaranteed that it would bring in 25,000 new jobs with an average wage of over $150,000.
- As part of a "phase two" of the HQ2 rollout, the tech giant said it would also create an additional 12,850 jobs.
- In return, the Commonwealth of Virginia will bestow a cash grant of up to $550 million - $22,000 per new job - to Amazon over the next 12 years.
- The cash is off the table if Amazon doesn't deliver on its promise of mass job creations.
- Arlington County is also slated to throw some serious cash Amazon's way - $23 million over 15 years - as part of a grant based on the "Transient Occupancy Tax" levied on hotel rooms.
- That money depends on Amazon bringing in "business-related travelers who will stay in Arlington."
- Arlington County has also pledged to help the tech giant secure approval in order to build a helipad.
- Amazon has said that Arlington will benefit from "4 million square feet of energy-efficient office space with the opportunity to expand to 8 million square feet."
- Amazon estimated that Arlington will accrue an incremental tax revenue of $3.2 billion over the next 20 years as a result of HQ2.
- Virginia will be working to make the area more accessible for the influx of new Amazon employees by putting $195 million toward infrastructure projects like the Crystal City and the Potomac Yards Metro stations, pedestrian crossings along Route 1, and a pedestrian bridge between National Landing and Reagan National Airport.