Risky Business: Speculating on the Future of Location of Amazon's HQ2

Real estate investors are willing to gamble on the potential of the future location, still to be determined, of Amazon's second headquarters.

1 minute read

October 24, 2018, 12:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Monongahela River

Christian Hinkle / Shutterstock

Shayndi Raice and Keiko Morris report: "Plenty of real-estate investors are poised to buy property in whichever city Amazon.com Inc. picks for its second headquarters. Some aren’t waiting."

There's more than one way to gamble on the future location of HQ2, according to the article: "Speculators are raising funds to invest in real estate near the winning site—wherever that may be—or are gathering cash commitments so they can pounce immediately after the winner is announced. Others are buying up shares of a real-estate firm that owns much of the property in a north Virginia city that many consider a leading contender."

It's been almost a year since Amazon announced the list of 20 finalists in the running for the $5 billion facility. The article includes details about how being among the finalists is already impacting markets like in Northern Virginia and in Pittsburgh, PA.

Disclaimer: The article might be behind a paywall for some readers.

Monday, October 22, 2018 in The Wall Street Journal

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