Amazon HQ2 Is Upending Northern Virginia’s Already Unstable Housing Market

New York Times ^ | 07/11/2019 | Lola Fadulu

[SeekAndFind]

WASHINGTON — Amazon has yet to break ground in Northern Virginia for its second headquarters, but residents are already turning away persistent speculators, recalculating budgets for down payments on homes and fighting rent increases.

Amazon announced in November that its second headquarters would be in National Landing, which includes parts of Crystal City, Pentagon City and Alexandria, all suburbs of Washington. The company will hire 25,000 people over the next 10 to 12 years.

“That day in November, I got more Zillow calls, inquiries and leads off of Zillow than I did the entire month of October,” said Michelle Doherty, a real estate agent who focuses on South Arlington, an area that is expected to change a lot.

As of June, the median home price in Arlington County was on track to spike 17.2 percent by the end of 2019, according to a report by the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors and the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis.

Speculators have begun asking homeowners to sell. Potential home buyers, typically younger, are holding off buying to save more money for down payments. Low-income renters are worried about rising rents and about how they will afford basic necessities.

And Amazon has not even fully arrived yet. The company plans to hire 400 employees for the headquarters by the end of the year, and 1,000 to 1,500 employees in subsequent years.

[Alas Babylon!]

1500 employees??? That’s like just one medium sized government agency in DC (ex: Dept of Labor).

I thought it was supposed to be tens of thousands?

[bgill]

The very reason (aside from traffic) why I was so opposed to Amazon coming to Austin, TX. However, they did bring in some new employees.

[taxpayerfatigue]

Probably won’t be a problem for a segment of their employees there (the H1-B’s) who slither in and live 20 to a dwelling. All this made possible by the Congress traitors who vote up bills to change the H1-B system to allow for this. Wonder how much under the table compensation each of these Congresscritters gets under the table for arranging this. I’m certain that the Senate won’t block this when it comes to them for a vote, and not so certain Trump will veto if the Senate votes Aye. Folks, we’ve been had!

[Trump.Deplorable]

Yea this thing went from being a mega head quarters part 2 to just a regional middle management office

Boring

And just think of all the cities that were going to give Amazon the world for opening this giant disappointment

[sphinx]

I live on Capitol Hill, which is just across the river and will be a very easy commute by metro. (Anyone who wants to drive through terminal gridlock twice a day should have his head examined.) Because of its central location, Capitol Hill is very well served by metrorail and will probably be more convenient for most Amazon people than most places in Arlington or Alexandria except locations right on a metro line, which will command fierce premiums. We are getting three or four unsolicited inquiries a week from would-be buyers.

[Chode]

wonder how the people that scarfed up the land on Long Island are doing now?

[Repeat Offender]

They're probably doing excellent since Amazon isn't around to exploit everyone.

/s

[Chode]

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