How Amazon's New NYC Office Space Differs From Scrapped HQ2 Plan

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN is undertaking largest expansion in New York City since deciding not to put a second headquarters in the city.

The move means New York will get an influx of Amazon corporate jobs without the concessions Amazon had sought for its second headquarters, which it initially awarded to Long Island City, but canceled after a public outcry.

The company said late last week it has signed a lease for a 350,000 square foot space near the Hudson Yards development in Midtown Manhattan. The offices will house advertising employees and those in the company's consumer offices.

Importantly, the lease wasn't contingent on the tax credits and other incentives the company would have gotten for its Long Island City development, the New York Times reported.

Differs From Scrapped Amazon HQ2 Plan

The original second headquarters development would have been much, much larger, however, eventually bringing more than 25,000 jobs to the city. The Midtown lease will only bring about 1,500 Amazon employees to Manhattan.

The 25,000 figure, however, likely would have been reached over a decade or more, and Amazon had only planned to hire about 700 workers at the opening of the now-canceled Long Island City campus.

Even though the lease will create a much smaller footprint than initially envisioned, Amazon’s decision to expand in New York anyway, even without the $3 billion in enticements the city had put forward for the headquarters may give some power back to local governments and states who have often felt they needed big giveaways to lure corporate giants to their towns.

The HQ2 plan was eventuality moved to the Arlington, Virginia area.

Amazon's stock traded around $1,761 per share at time of publication.

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