RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – The Amazon HQ2 saga evolved again Monday afternoon with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the $5 billion HQ2 project and its 50,000 jobs would be split among two cities, not just one.

Later, The New York Times reported that Amazon was “nearing a deal to move to the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens” and “is also close to a deal to move to the Crystal City area of Arlington, Virginia, a Washington suburb.” The paper cited unknown sources.

“Amazon already has more employees in those two areas than anywhere else outside Seattle, its home base, and the Bay Area,” the paper added.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper was asked about the report Tuesday morning. He told WRAL Statehouse Reporter Travis Fain that the state had not heard any news from Amazon. He also said North Carolina had not been told that it is out of the running for the Amazon project.

The Journal listed New York, Dallas and the Washington, D.C. area as possibilities for the split HQ.

WRAL TechWire heard a similar report several weeks ago but was unable to confirm the story.

A company spokesman, Adam Sedo, reached by phone in Seattle, told The Associated Press that Amazon would not comment on “rumors and speculation.”

Amazon could announce its decision at any time. Research Triangle Park is on the final 20 metros being considered for the project.

“The driving force behind the decision to build two equal offices in addition to the company’s headquarters in Seattle is recruiting enough tech talent, according to the person familiar with the company’s plans,” the Journal said. “The move will also ease potential issues with housing, transit and other areas where adding tens of thousands of workers could cause problems.”

WRAL TechWire had been told the same information.

As one developer has told TechWire, “The Triangle is just too small” to absorb HQ2 at the size Amazon had specified.

Could the news be good for the Triangle’s chances?

“Certainly not bad news,” a source in the developer community responded.

Asked for comment Monday, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Commerce said the Department was aware of the Journal report but added: “As you know from our previous replies on this topic, we do not comment on active economic development projects, until a company makes public its site location decision.”

Citing a “person familiar with the matter,” the newspaper said the huge project with be split “evenly” between two cities, which were not named.

The Journal described the decision as a “surprise.” Amazon has said it would pick one city since HQ2 was announced more than a year ago.

The New York Times said Amazon executives met last month with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state had offered possibly hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of subsidies. They also met with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, it said.

“I’ll change my name to Amazon Cuomo if that’s what it takes,” the report cited Cuomo as saying.

Report: Amazon HQ2 talks with Triangle have ‘cooled’

The final decision about HQ2 could be announced as soon as this week, the paper added.

On Saturday, The Washington Post reported that Amazon was in very late stages with officials in Northern Virginia as the spot for HQ2.

An Amazon executive in charge of economic development reacted in anger to the leak, saying a non-disclosure agreement had been violated.

The Journal then reported Sunday that Amazon was talking with several cities, including suburban Washington, Dallas and New York.

Talks with the Triangle and some other cities had “cooled,” according to the report.

Sources told WRAL TechWire that the Triangle had not been told that it no longer was under consideration as an HQ2 location.

However, one source said early Monday that news of cooling-off talks between Amazon and the Triangle did not come as a surprise.

“We have been hearing rumors {to that effect} for several months,” the source, a government official who declined to be identified, said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sources: Triangle hasn’t been told it’s out of running for either Amazon HQ2 or Apple