If DC Gets Amazon's 2nd HQ, It May Cost You Big Time

Amazon has released its list of 20 finalists for its second headquarters, and the D.C. area has nabbed three spots on the list. But a new report suggests that while an influx of $5 billion and 50,000 jobs may be good for the locality that lands Amazon, it may not be good for people currently paying rent in the D.C. area.

The report by Apartment List suggests that the average D.C. renter household will have to fork over a total of $5,757 over the next 10 years if the region gets Amazon. That translates to about $50 per month.

The reason is fairly obvious: such a huge influx of high-paid workers would drive up demand for apartments and houses in the area. Apartment List believes that this 0.3-0.5 percent annual increase would be on top of an additional annual rent increase of up to 2 percent per year that the region would experience without Amazon.

Still, that's better than most other finalists for Amazon's HQ2. At less than 0.5 percent, D.C.'s rent growth with Amazon puts it on Apartment List's "least impacted" list along with Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles.

D.C. has a pretty strong chance to get Amazon, if you believe the oddsmakers. Bovada ranks Washington, D.C. as second most likely to get Amazon (+1000), behind only Nashville (+800) and just ahead of Atlanta (+1200). Montgomery County, Md. came in at +1500, tying it with Pittsburgh, Indianpolis, and Los Angeles. Northern Virginia didn't get as much respect, earning the second-worst odds at +1800, tying it with Newark, New York City, Raleigh, and Toronto.

Columbus, Boston, and Miami were ranked least likely to land Amazon with +2000.

Of course, there have been a ton of rankings lists released since Amazon's finalists were made public, and they all vary widely on who is most likely to get the coveted investment, which could amount to $5 billion and 50,000 jobs. One thing they all seem to agree on is that the D.C. area has a strong chance, and that's hard to ignore considering the fact that ours was the only metro area to get three spots on the list (not to mention that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post and recently bought a home in the District).

"Amazon evaluated each of the proposals based on the criteria outlined in the RFP [request for proposals] to create the list of 20 HQ2 candidates that will continue in the selection process," reads a company statement. "In the coming months, Amazon will work with each of the candidate locations to dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information, and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership that can accommodate the company’s hiring plans as well as benefit its employees and the local community. Amazon expects to make a decision in 2018."

Amazon HQ2 won't simply be a satellite office to their main corporate headquarters in Seattle. It will be a complete headquarters that the company will invest $5 billion in, and it will employ as many as 50,000 people, the company says.

"In addition to Amazon’s direct hiring and investment, construction and ongoing operation of Amazon HQ2 is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the surrounding community," the statement adds.

Amazon employs more than 540,000 people worldwide.

Image via Amazon