Despite recently walking away from plans to build its “HQ2” on the Queens waterfront, e-commerce giant Amazon is reportedly looking at office space on Manhattan’s West Side in a renewed bid to open offices in New York City.
The New York Post reports that e-commerce giant Amazon is searching for Manhattan property after pulling out of a deal to build its new “HQ2” on the Queens waterfront. Amazon has reportedly been in talks with owners of two new skyscrapers located one block west of Penn Station in New York City. The buildings are newly constructed and are referred to as One Manhattan West and Two Manhattan West.
One source told the Post that Amazon is seeking “at least 100,000 square feet or much more” to start with. Amazon already has 50,00 employees in New York City and had reportedly been “seriously” looking at Two Manhattan West before attempting to place its HQ2 in Long Island City in November. The source told the Post that “interest has returned over the last few weeks.”
When asked to comment on rumors, an Amazon spokesperson stated: “We don’t comment on rumors or speculation.” Amazon is reportedly looking at space on the top of the tower at Two Manhattan West, but the building is likely not ready for tenants until 2022. Amazon’s decision to return to Manhattan shortly after dropping plans for its Queens headquarters appears to be an act of defiance towards politicians who campaigned to shut down Amazon’s Long Island City HQ2, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
While both Queens and Long Island City would have benefited from the investment, Manhattan is not likely to see any major changes as a result of it. Kathryn Wylde, CEO of the nonprofit Partnership for New York City, commented on this stating: “Frankly, that kind of activity gets lost in Manhattan… The investment in Long Island City was going to create a whole cluster of activity around it,” Wylde explained. “No one is going to have that same impact in Manhattan unless you go to Upper Manhattan.”
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
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