Amazon Rejects Atlanta As One Of Its 2 New Headquarters

ATLANTA, GA — It's official: After months of trying to court tech-giant Amazon, Atlanta was not chosen as the ultimate destination for the company's headquarters. The Seattle-based company says it will invest about $2.5 billion and create more than 25,000 high-paying jobs at each of its two new locations in Long Island City and Arlington, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.

“These two locations will allow us to attract world-class talent that will help us to continue inventing for customers for years to come,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a news release.

Georgia and Atlanta officials worked to lure tech-giant Amazon's new headquarters to the Atlanta area for months. In January, designers even unveiled plans for a massive downtown development that would have fit the bill.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that California development team CIM Group pitched a $1 billion concept for redeveloping 27 acres downtown into a mix of offices, stores, restaurants and residential units. The development would have been in and around The Gulch, a spot now dominated by parking lots near Philips Arena, CNN Center and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The development would have included private streets like those metro Atlanta residents would recognize from Atlantic Station in Midtown. It would have included more than 9 million square feet of office space, 1 million square feet of retail and restaurants, 1,000 residential units and 1,500 hotel rooms, the AJC reported.

Amazon was originally going to select one location for $5 billion in investment and 50,000 jobs, but decided to split it between two localities due to concerns about their ability to attract that much tech talent in one place. Long Island City in Queens, N.Y., won the other bid.

There were 20 finalists, including Chicago, New York, Atlanta, and other major cities, and many have reportedly offered incentives to Amazon to move there. It is a highly sought after project because Amazon claims it would include $5 billion in investment and 50,000 high-paying jobs.

"We are excited to build new headquarters in New York City and Northern Virginia," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, in a statement. "These two locations will allow us to attract world-class talent that will help us to continue inventing for customers for years to come. The team did a great job selecting these sites, and we look forward to becoming an even bigger part of these communities.

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"We are proud that Amazon has selected National Landing for a major new headquarters," said Arlington County Board Chair Katie Cristol in a statement. National Landing refers to a neighborhood that includes both Crystal City as well as Pentagon City and neighboring Potomac Yard in Alexandria. "This is, above all, a validation of our community's commitment to sustainability, transit-oriented development, affordable housing and diversity."

The online retail behemoth will invest $2.5 billion and bringing in 25,000 high-paying jobs to the area, occupying 4 million square feet of office space with the opportunity to expand to 8 million square feet over the next 12 years, the statement adds.

"I'm thrilled that our skilled workforce helped persuade Amazon to bring a major new headquarters and its tens of thousands of jobs to Virginia," Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said in a statement. "Congratulations are in order to Governors McAuliffe and Northam and the local leaders who worked to ensure that this deal includes investments in our education and transportation infrastructure."

Northern Virginia was one of 20 areas on the e-commerce giant's short list when it was released. But experts had long focused specifically on Crystal City as a likely landing spot due to its proximity to Reagan National Airport, its highly educated and diverse workforce, the fact that most of it is owned by one developer (JBG), and other factors. The fact that Virginia is considered a business-friendly state reportedly also weighed into the decision.

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There were other reasons to suspect Crystal City was at the top of the heap. Jeff Bezos already owns the area's newspaper, the Washington Post, as well as D.C.'s largest mansion, and it makes sense he would want to have a significant presence in stone's throw of a Congress that could look to target his company's labor practices, for example.

The D.C. area had three spots on Amazon's shortlist of 20 finalists: Northern Virginia, D.C, and Montgomery County, Maryland, but Northern Virginia had long been seen as the favorite.

Dan Taylor and Doug Gross contributed to this reporting.

Photo credit: David Ryder/Getty Images