Alexandra, VA - A new report released today shows that Amazon’s plan to locate their HQ2 in Crystal City brought a 17% increase in area housing sales prices in a matter of months. The report predicts that this will displace up to 10,000 LatinX and working-class residents in northern Virginia. The Arlandria Neighborhood will be the most impacted by Amazon’s new Headquarters. 

A new report released today shows that Amazon’s plan to locate their HQ2 in Crystal City brought a 17% increase in area housing sales prices in a matter of months. The report predicts that this will displace up to 10,000 LatinX and working-class residents in northern Virginia.

The community-based Tenants and Workers United - Inquilinos y Trabajadores Unidos conducted the Arlandria Income and Population Survey and Findings, a survey of tenant households nearby, to shed light upon the expected impact on housing within the community and to propose a solution to this impending issue. Those most likely to be forced from the area will be its long-term residents, coming primarily from the Latinx and immigrant communities.

"I have been part of this community for over 25 years and it is hard to watch our people suffer from skyrocketing costs of rent and displacement since Amazon's announcement," said Evelin Urrutia, Executive Director of Tenants and Workers United - Inquilinos y Trabajadores Unidos. "Amazon's arrival is a crisis for our working-class communities. It is time for local and state officials to take action to protect the people they are supposed to represent."

“Virginia and Arlington are massively subsidizing Amazon, which will displace over 3,000 working-class Latinx families from Arlandria. The local and state governments as well as private companies need at least five hundred million dollars to mitigate the damage and preserve housing for the working poor,” said Jon Liss, New Virginia Majority’s co-executive director. “Local officials have publicly supported ‘workforce housing’ yet the study shows these efforts will only further displace current communities and are more likely to support white, home-owning residents in higher income brackets.”

Tenants and Workers United’s analysis makes clear that current solutions from Virginia’s elected officials ignore the impending gentrification of an entire neighborhood.

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