Amazon recently announced its second headquarters, HQ2, will be split between New York City and Arlington, Virginia, with Nashville, Tennessee winning the consolation prize – an operations center.
This operations center is set to create 5,000 high-paying jobs over the next seven years, and Amazon will invest $230 million into the city. This is compared to 25,000 jobs in each of the larger cities where its second headquarters will be based and an investment of $15 billion.
(Source: Alcynna Lloyd)
But this “consolation prize” may end up being better for Tennessee’s economy than the larger investments will be for New York City and Arlington, Virginia, according to an article by Ester Fung for The Wall Street Journal.
From the article:
“An additional 5,000 jobs in Nashville is more meaningful compared to 25,000 jobs in each of these two cities,” said Bernhard Krieg, managing director at Brookfield Asset Management’s Public Securities Group.
The article also points out that, unlike the other two cities, which offered about $3.4 billion in tax incentives, Nashville offered less. This will mean the city could benefit more from the jobs created.
And while the real estate interest in Nashville has seen an uptick, the change will be gradual as Amazon has a full seven years to create the promised 5,000 jobs.
From the article:
Amazon’s pledge to take up 1 million square feet of office space in Nashville is expected to generate demand for other commercial real estate. Amazon’s Nashville operation center will be responsible for customer fulfillment, transportation and supply chain, which could spur other jobs in the accounting, legal and financial sectors.
