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I have been following the story about Amazon looking to build a second headquarters in the east. One of the front runners is Washington DC. And more recently, news has surfaced that semi-rural Oatlands, VA in nearby Louden County has been mentioned as a possible location for the new HQ2 and up to 50,000 Amazon Employees and their families.
Oatlands is roughly 35 miles west of DC, and approx 15 miles or so from Jefferson County line in the Eastern Panhandle of WV. One would think this could potentially have a major impact on the housing market and economy in the Eastern Panhandle.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. How do you folks in the EP feel about this? Could be a lot more jobs coming to the area. But also, possibly higher housing prices and more traffic, ect. The good with the bad.
Last edited by Silkdashocker; 11-04-2018 at 11:37 PM..
I have been following the story about Amazon looking to build a second headquarters in the east. One of the front runners is Washington DC. And more recently, news has surfaced that semi-rural Oatlands, VA in nearby Louden County has been mentioned as a possible location for the new HQ2 and up to 50,000 Amazon Employees and their families.
Oatlands is roughly 35 miles west of DC, and approx 15 miles or so from Jefferson County line in the Eastern Panhandle of WV. One would think this could potentially have a major impact on the housing market and economy in the Eastern Panhandle.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. How do you folks in the EP feel about this? Could be a lot more jobs coming to the area. But also, possibly higher housing prices and more traffic, ect. The good with the bad.
You've hit the nail on the head. I'm hoping HQ2 does come to NOVA. A sudden rush of 50,000 Amazon employees will require a ton of housing. I'm certain a portion of those families will consider Jefferson/Berkeley counties.
I was in NOVA over the weekend. I took the entire Dulles Greenway. It never ceases to amaze me how strong their infrastructure is and how well planned and organized their growth is. I think it would be the perfect spot for HQ2. Mostly flat land, seemingly great quality of life (minus traffic but that's inevitable), close to Dulles International and DC Metro silver line (which is being extended to Ashburn, less than 30 miles from Jefferson County).
If this does happen, it'll shift the balance of power in West Virginia. Obviously the influx of more residents and the need for housing but how many other businesses will relocate or expand in the area?
A split would lessen the immediate impact on one area. And if they chose Crystal City in VA, that’s a quite a bit further east than Oatlands. The EP may not see much of a change if that’s the location they chose.
Clearbrook VA is Jut a Distribution center..... not quite fully functional. Anywhere close just makes More Bedrooms More kids parents just turn loose more traffic More More More .....
I can't remember who specifically published that Oatlands Virginia was their choice but it is clearly wrong. Oatlands is a former plantation in rural portion of centra/ western Loudoun County where zoning would not even allow such a development. Loudoun County does have a number of Amazon data centers (among many others) in the fast growing eastern portion - in fact 70 percent of the world's internet traffic flows through that area but it will not be HQ2. The latest signs are that Amazon is 'splitting' HQ2 between Crystal City here in Arlington and Long Island City in Queens. I think it makes sense in that it spreads 25k jobs each to both areas and addresses any concerns of one area being unable to absorb all the new workers, housing etc. There will be some impacts to Eastern Panhandle real estate but Crystal City is quite a commute from there.
Being a real estate nerd myself I would not be surprised to see increasing growth in the Eastern Panhandle regardless of HQ2. Loudoun County has been one of the fastest growing counties in the country for a while now and based on current zoning they are going to be running out of land zoned for high density residential in the coming decades. The DC area is going to continue to keep growing at a fast clip and western Loudoun has made it clear they do not want to be zoned for high density development in order to protect the vineyards and 'farming' industry (mostly gentleman farms from people who live closer to DC and want to pretend for the weekend that they live in the 'country'). Logistically, this makes both the Eastern Panhandle and Winchester the next logical places for new development.
Last edited by NOVAmtneer82; 11-06-2018 at 04:16 PM..
I can't remember who specifically published that Oatlands Virginia was their choice but it is clearly wrong. Oatlands is a former plantation in rural portion of centra/ western Loudoun County where zoning would not even allow such a development. Loudoun County does have a number of Amazon data centers (among many others) in the fast growing eastern portion - in fact 70 percent of the world's internet traffic flows through that area but it will not be HQ2. The latest signs are that Amazon is 'splitting' HQ2 between Crystal City here in Arlington and Long Island City in Queens. I think it makes sense in that it spreads 25k jobs each to both areas and addresses any concerns of one area being unable to absorb all the new workers, housing etc. There will be some impacts to Eastern Panhandle real estate but Crystal City is quite a commute from there.
Being a real estate nerd myself I would not be surprised to see increasing growth in the Eastern Panhandle regardless of HQ2. Loudoun County has been one of the fastest growing counties in the country for a while now and based on current zoning they are going to be running out of land zoned for high density residential in the coming decades. The DC area is going to continue to keep growing at a fast clip and western Loudoun has made it clear they do not want to be zoned for high density development in order to protect the vineyards and 'farming' industry (mostly gentleman farms from people who live closer to DC and want to pretend for the weekend that they live in the 'country'). Logistically, this makes both the Eastern Panhandle and Winchester the next logical places for new development.
Mixed blessing, right? I hate to think I will lose more of what I like about Winchester to sprawl. So long as I am north or west of the city, I love it. Head east or south and forget about it.
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