Amazon Not Coming To Miami Unless We Order Something

NEW YORK — Despite putting forth a solid case for Amazon to build its second headquarters in the Miami area, the online retail giant evidently decided it was better for productivity to stay away from our year-round sunshine, sizzling nightlife and welcoming beaches.

Amazon opted instead to split its planned headquarters between Queens, New York and Crystal City, Virginia.

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This is a little like losing your fiancee to a rich, bald guy. It hurts, but Miami will get over it.

The decision, which was announced Tuesday, marks the end of a competitive nationwide search for Amazon's newest home that lasted more than a year and attracted more than 200 bids faster than you could say "free, two-day shipping."

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 the Arlington suburb of Washington, D.C.

Its $3.6 billion Queens project will eventually comprise at least 4 million square feet of commercial space on a swatch of waterfront property stretching along Vernon Boulevard within walking distance of a ferry stop, according to the deal between Amazon and city and state officials in New York.

"When we start officially hiring here next year we will be able to attract top-tier talent that will help us innovate on behalf of our customers for years to come," John Schoettler, Amazon's vice president of real estate, said at a news conference in Manhattan.

Amazon's plans come amid concerns about overcrowding and strained infrastructure in the exploding neighborhood located just across the East River from Manhattan.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have been eager to draw Amazon to New York, saying the move would provide an economic boost. The project will bring an "unprecedented" number of jobs to the city and consolidate New York City as "a great international tech hub," de Blasio said.

Amazon will benefit from nearly $3 billion worth of state and city incentives and generate $27.5 billion in tax revenue for a nine-to-one return, the highest rate ever for a state economic development project, Cuomo said.

The deal also includes a slew of community benefits, including a site for a new school, public green space, room for a technology accelerator, job training efforts and job fairs for residents of the Queensbridge Houses, the nation's largest public housing development.

The other half of Amazon's second headquarters will be located in Crystal City, which is minutes away from the Pentagon and Ronald Reagan National Airport. That location will reportedly also house a new $1 billion Virginia Tech campus.

The planned 1-million-square-foot Virginia Tech Innovation Campus will be at the new Amazon HQ2 campus that is being called "National Landing" and includes Crystal City as well as parts of Pentagon City and Potomac Yard across the Arlington border in Alexandria.

Patch editors Noah Manskar and Dan Taylor contributed to this article.

Photo by David McNew/Getty Images