Sam Musovic, who owns apartments close to Amazon's proposed headquarters in Queens, said in a press release on Friday that he and a group of angry Queens residents would be protesting at an Amazon Books store near Herald Square in New York on Friday. He also said that he and other landlords from the area were considering taking legal action against Amazon.
Musovic told Business Insider that the news about HQ2 being canceled was "devastating."
"I thought I was going to be the happiest guy on the planet," he said.
Musovic said he took out a loan of more than $1 million from the bank to renovate his apartments in Long Island City and two restaurants that he owns on the Upper East Side before Amazon announced it would be opening in the area. On hearing the news, he shifted his focus to investing in the Long Island City locations, putting in new kitchens and bathrooms, believing that he would get this money back when more people move to the area.
Amazon had said that it would bring as many as 40,000 jobs to the city with its new headquarters over time. Now, that won't be happening. In a blog post on Thursday, the retail giant called out state and local politicians and hinted that their protests were behind its decision to kill its plans to come to New York.
"I am not going to be able to recoup the benefits," Musovic said. "It's a huge loss. We want Amazon back."
According to StreetEasy, in the five weeks after Amazons plans leaked, 18.8% of homes for sale in Long Island City saw their prices increase. In the five weeks before the announcement, no listings in the area had raised prices.
Now experts are expecting the housing market to revert back to pre-announcement levels.
"Long Island City's housing market will likely experience a bit of whiplash as a result of this latest news," StreetEasy economic data analyst Nancy Wu told Business Insider.
"In the weeks after the initial announcement that Amazon would be coming to Queens, we saw sellers in the area increase their asking prices, interest from buyers and investors spike to new highs, and for-sale listings beyond Long Island City in areas like Midtown and Astoria tout their proximity to the new Amazon campus."
Amazon will be sticking to its plan to develop a new headquarters in Northern Virginia as well as a new office in Nashville.
SEE ALSO: Angry New Yorkers are slamming the politicians who revolted against Amazon's HQ2 plan for the city
