Rather than crowning one city as the next home of Amazon's second headquarters, the e-commerce giant plans to split the headquarters between two locations, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The surprise decision to build two offices for its HQ2, in addition to its first headquarters in Seattle, is driven by the need to recruit the best tech talent and ease any potential issues with housing or transit, according to people familiar with the decision, the WSJ reported.
Under the revised plan, Amazon would split the workforce evenly with about 25,000 employees in each city. It will view all three of its main offices as headquarters with similar executive functions. However, the split means the company will build two smaller offices than its Seattle home base, which has 45,000 workers.
The company has not announced the winning cities, but reports surfaced Nov. 4 revealing Amazon was in late-stage talks with Crystal City, Va., Dallas and New York City.
Negotiations with the front-runners are likely in different phases, according to the WSJ. In Crystal City, Amazon is negotiating with government officials regarding tax incentives and talking to a real estate investment trust about the Crystal City real estate that it owns.
Site selection specialists said Amazon is likely having late-stage talks with the cities and has others on hold, in case a deal falls through.
Amazon could announce the winners as soon as this week, according to the WSJ.
Read the full report here.