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All of a sudden, the two-bedroom condo in a 1980s-era building that had been sitting on the market for a few months, even after a price cut, had a flood of interest. Gemond did eight showings in one day, for people who would not know her why they were interested – but who she was suspicious. Amazon if it moves in.
"It feels like that moment in a horse race where the horses are lined up in the starting gate," says Gemond. "They're just antsy and ready to get going, they're waiting for that gate to be lifted."
It's not just her. The real estate listing website Crystal City and 659% in Long Island City.
They're very different markets. Crystal City itself has plenty of vacant office space – 23.3% in the third quarter, according to the CBRE commercial brokerage – and very little residential inventory. Most of the recent growth has been in neighborhoods to the south and east. It's also a short Metro ride across the Potomac River from newly constructed glass-tower neighborhoods in southwest Washington, DC.
But both markets have seen slowdowns over the past year or so. The Queens Waterfront is now up for sale. Amazon, with its legions of well-paid workers, could bring that to an end.
"Everybody's posting, 'Hey, what about Amazon, I suggest you hold on to your property,'" Sanders says. "A realtor does not want to hear."
But they have not stopped the inquiries from would-be buyers "Why do you have a sudden call in Crystal City?" asked Sanders, who usually queries customers to see if there is some reason they are in a hurry to move in. "I'm not getting a reason."
The wait-and-see attitude may affect development, too. Although the Amazon news may not be as good as it may be.
Eventually, though, Vominh figures that will change – especially because Amazon would not come all at once.
"They definitely have agitated the waters, so everything's kind of cloudy," he says. "I think it will settle down once people realize that 25,000 people are not on a plane headed in this direction."
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