3 Long Island Sites Proposed For New Amazon Headquarters

Both Nassau and Suffolk county leaders announced locations Thursday where they imagined Amazon could build its planned second United States headquarters.

The Seattle-based retail giant is looking to spend $5 billion to build a second headquarters, and would bring about 50,000 six-figure jobs to the area. Amazon said it was looking for "business friendly" places to build. That sent municipalities all across the country, including here in New York, into a frenzy.

Long Island made its pitch today.

In Suffolk County, Steve Bellone, the county executive, speaking at a press conference in Melville, said Heartland Town Square, at the site of the old Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, would be the perfect fit for Amazon. Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine proposed Brookhaven Calabro Airport in Shirley, saying "it's all cleared and ready for development."

Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano proposed building the new headquarters at Belmont Park, which the Islanders also have their eyes on.

Amazon says HQ2 will be a "full equal" to its current home in Seattle, and the company plans to invest over $5 billion in the construction and operation of the new headquarters.

Amazon officials seek a new home with more than one million residents, a business-friendly environment, urban and suburban locations, a close proximity to an international airport, have direct access to mass transit, and be able to expand the headquarters to as much as 8-million square feet in the next decade.

It will almost certainly be a sweetheart deal for Amazon wherever it chooses to build — the retailer gets municipalities to bid against each other to host the new headquarters, many of which will likely give Amazon steep tax breaks.

Coming to New York wouldn't be too much of a stretch for Amazon. Just last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the retailer was expanding its New York City office and adding 2,000 jobs. In exchange, the state offered Amazon up to $20 million in tax credits.