After almost a yearlong search with fierce competition among U.S. cities eager for the new business, Amazon settles on the Queens neighborhood in New York City and the city of Arlington, Virginia for its new HQ on the East Coast

It’s not every day that a tech giant builds a new headquarters. Amazon announced that the company was in search of a new American location to house a second HQ apart from its primary location in Seattle, Washington in 2017. Cities all over the country were eager to bring in Amazon to their states, thus ensuring new jobs and employment for their residents. City after city sent in their applications, with hefty promises and tax cuts to attract the e-commerce giant. Amazon had remained silent on the issue over the course of the year. It was only in the past week that Amazon finally revealed its front runners and surprising decision to choose two locations instead of one.

Apart from Seattle, Amazon’s second largest location up till now housed up to 3,100 employees. The two new headquarters, in Queens, New York and Arlington, Virginia will house up to 50,000 new employees. The new positions are lucrative for the local economies, giving a much needed boost to NYC in particular, as each job is listed at $150k and up. The states in turn have delivered huge tax benefits to Amazon with billion-dollar tax cuts.

Amazon has cited talent as being a top driver in the decision-making process. Both NYC and Virginia are home to many enterprising companies and tech talent, thus offering Amazon the opportunity of cross-pollination and exposure to ongoing ideas, initiatives and some of the country’s best known talent.

In addition to these two centers, Amazon has also announced the development of a new customer service center including transportation and logistics in Nashville, Tennessee. Given the company’s large annual production and profitability, Amazon is expected to have a significantly beneficial influence for local economies in terms of wages, education and local business supporting the tech giant’s enterprise.

Amazon had invested significant resources to the development of its primary headquarters in Seattle, WA, including the development of biospheres and eco-initiatives. Both residents and visitors alike are curious to know how the new HQ in Queens and Arlington will look and function.