Throughout 2018, the Stephen S. Fuller Institute was the go-to source for the most pressing regional issues including the changing demographic, workforce and economic trends, as well as the headline-making events like Amazon HQ2 and federal government shutdowns. In case you missed any of our most popular reports and blogs, our top five are below. The…
In the Washington region in 2017, 13.2 percent of residents lived in a household that did not have a cellular data plan. Residents without a cellular data plan had limited access to the increasing number of smartphone-enabled transportation and other services and access varied by geography, age and household income. Residents in the District were…
The location of Amazon’s HQ2 in Arlington County would generate significant impacts to the benefit of the County’s and Commonwealth of Virginia’s economies. These economic and fiscal impacts would be seen in job and income growth including the HQ2 workforce and the supporting jobs and personal and business earnings that would be generated annually by HQ2, its workforce, and their families by their spending for goods and service within the Arlington County economy and throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. This new economic activity would generate substantial new revenues in excess of new public expenditure requirements for both Arlington County and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
While HQ2 will generate additional demand for housing, its effects will be geographically dispersed and gradual. Even so, the additional demand would like increase both home sales prices and rental rates, albeit only marginally above the rise that is expected to occur without these households. The average wages of HQ2 workers indicate that many of these households would be able to afford new construction, both ownership and rental housing. Additional supply would mitigate any price increases that would occur for the existing housing stock.
Amazon’s second headquarters (HQ2) is expected to bring up to 50,000 jobs and occupy 8 million square feet (SF) of office space in Arlington County, VA. The build-out is likely to occur over 20 years. The arrival of HQ2 in the Arlington County will have economic, fiscal and housing impacts on the County, the Washington region and the Commonwealth of Virginia. This report primarily focuses on the broader impacts on the Washington region. For a detailed analysis on the impacts on Arlington County, VA and the Commonwealth of Virginia, see The Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Locating Amazon’s HQ2 in Arlington County, Virginia.
