WASHINGTON 鈥� After Amazon announced Thursday that it would not build a planned phase of its second headquarters in New York, the chairman of the Arlington County Board said that the jobs that would have gone to Queens are not headed to the Crystal City site the sales giant has already selected.
“We鈥檙e not asking Amazon to shift their planned investment from New York to here,” Chairman Christian Dorsey said in a conference call with reporters on Thursday.
The company said earlier Thursday that it would not build its planned New York branch, which聽would have brought 25,000 jobs to the city. Amazon reversed course after politicians and activists objected to the nearly $3 billion in tax breaks promised to what is already one of the world鈥檚 richest, most powerful companies.
鈥淎fter speaking with an Amazon representative earlier today,鈥� Dorsey said, 鈥渨e have confirmed that we are moving forward as planned with Amazon鈥檚 upcoming headquarters in Arlington 鈥� nothing has changed.鈥�
He added that the County Board will next month consider the performance incentive agreement, 鈥渨hich includes 25,000 new jobs and 4 million square feet of office space,鈥� he said, 鈥漺ith the potential to go higher” 鈥� up to nearly 38,000 jobs 鈥� “if their growth needs materialize.鈥� Beyond, that, he said, the company would “use its assets across the country.”
Dorsey also said that聽鈥淎rlington, and the entire region, are still honored that Amazon recognized this region as a top area for businesses and workforce talent and selected us as a site for its headquarters expansion.”
When Dorsey was asked whether the breakdown between Amazon and New York could encourage more similar protests against Amazon鈥檚 expansion to Northern Virginia, he said the situations are different.
鈥淚t likely will cause people to increase their opposition,鈥� Dorsey said, but added that Arlington had already had 鈥渃ommunity conversations鈥� about growth before Amazon signed on.
Issues of land use and planning 鈥渉ave largely been handled by community conversations that we鈥檝e had previously,” Dorsey said. “Even though we didn鈥檛 have Amazon in mind, we鈥檝e planned for this growth nearly a decade ago in the area that they鈥檙e coming to.鈥�
If the company needs 50,000 new workers over the next 15 years 鈥� the combined total of the New York and Virginia deals 鈥� 鈥渃onceptually we have the capacity for more jobs in that area,鈥� Dorsey said.
鈥淲e can generally accommodate鈥� up to 50,000 over 15 years. 鈥淏ut we don鈥檛 see a need.鈥�
He said that now that Crystal City was “1 of 238” potential sites instead of “2 of 238,” nothing important had changed.
鈥淲e think Amazon made a very smart decision to recognize that talent that exists in our region 鈥� this is really something there they鈥檝e highlighted a particular community within a dynamic region that has its act together. That鈥檚 just as it was yesterday.鈥�
Dorsey also said that the news from New York, as well as Amazon’s reputation as a corporate neighbor, didn’t change his view of the company as an honest partner.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 speculate on what went wrong in New York,” Dorsey said, but he characterized Arlington’s discussions with the company as “collegial and collaborative. 鈥�
鈥淭hey have not only accepted who we are, how we do things and our values; they鈥檝e embraced it. And as long as that continues, we鈥檒l have no problems here.鈥�
Other reactions
A spokeswoman for Gov. Ralph Northam told 海角社区app, “We look forward to continuing our partnership with Amazon on the project that we agreed to here in Virginia and that has been approved overwhelmingly by our General Assembly. We鈥檙e proud that the centerpiece of our partnership with Amazon will be making much needed investments in our tech talent pipeline and higher education, and there will be significant state and local investments in affordable housing and sustainable infrastructure.”
Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson said the news of Amazon backing out of New York hasn’t changed anything for Alexandria either. “We’re going to operate under the assumption that at this point, their plan is to bring 25,000 jobs,” Wilson said. “We’ll need to have a conversation 鈥� if Amazon changes their plans again and wants to grow beyond that 鈥� how we would accommodate that.”
At the same time, Prince George’s County Councilmember Mel Franklin said in a statement that he hoped Amazon would “take a second, fresh look” at the county.
海角社区app’s Nick Iannelli and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
