Amazon in 'Advanced Talks' to Put HQ2 in Northern Virginia Town: Report

Crystal City, Virginia, may be the frontrunner for Amazon's hotly anticipated second North American headquarters.

The online retail giant has reportedly held "advanced discussions" about placing its sought-after HQ2 in the northern Virginia town located in Arlington County, according to The Washington Post. 

"The company is so close to making its choice that Crystal City’s top real estate developer, JBG Smith, has pulled some of its buildings off the leasing market and officials in the area have discussed how to make an announcement to the public this month, following the midterm elections, according to public and private-sector officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because Amazon has asked that the selection process remain confidential," the Post reported.

Speculation surrounding Amazon's HQ2 choice has been building, as the decision will bring with it an economic boom, including 50,000 jobs.

“There’s a lot of activity,” one individual close to the process told the Post. "[People] seem really positive, and they seem pretty confident . . . What we don’t know, maybe there are two or three other sites, and they’re doing the same thing. That’s what’s scary to people around here.”

Earlier this month, Amazon executives made a fresh round of visits to several of the 20 finalists for its $5 billion second-headquarters project, fueling added anticipation as it nears a decision in a process that has stretched over more than a year.

CEO Jeff Bezos commented on the HQ2 hunt during an event in New York on Thursday, but remained vague.

“Ultimately the decision will be made with intuition after gathering and studying a lot of data — for a decision like that, as far as I know, the best way to make it is you collect as much data as you can, you immerse yourself in that data but then you make the decision with your heart," he said, according to the Boston Globe.