Amazon on Tuesday announced the location of its long-awaited HQ2, which will be split between Long Island City, New York, and the relatively unknown new Alexandria, Va. neighborhood dubbed “National Landing.”
Rendering of the under-development National Landing neighborhood in Northern, VA, one of two sites chosen for Amazon HQ2. Credit: HQ NOVA
“We in Alexandria could not be more excited and proud for Amazon to call National Landing home,” said Alexandria Mayor Allison Silberberg in a press release on Tuesday.
“Throughout this process, we have worked with our colleagues in Arlington to highlight the collective strengths of our communities – our workforce, education, infrastructure and our unparalleled quality of life – all of which will be strengthened by this new investment from Amazon, the Commonwealth and our localities.”
Currently, National Landing, which is nestled between Crystal City, Potomac Yard, and Pentagon City, has more than 17 million square feet of existing office space, 24,000 affordable housing units within two miles of the future HQ2 building, and more than 150 acres of developable land.
According to a 280-page bid created by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) in conjunction with the city of Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax and Loudoun counties, National Landing will become one of Northern Virginia’s premier neighborhoods within the next 10 years.
The VEDP and partner cities also created a full website for National Landing complete with project renderings, seen throughout this article.
Amazon’s new offices could be spread throughout this area. Credit: HQ Nova
The 150 acres of developable land will be reserved for Amazon’s HQ2 and will feature three, new Metrorail stations and commuter rails, robust walking and biking paths, and a new entertainment plaza and park.
A rendering of 1900 Crystal Drive, one new office building in the National Landing neighborhood. Credit: HQ NOVA
The cities also noted opportunities for Amazon to lease prime office space in the North, Central, and South Districts, which are only 10 minutes away from Capitol Hill.
A rendering of one of the new metro rail stations. Credit: HQ NOVA
Future plans include the development of a Virginia Tech-led Innovation Campus that will offer masters and doctoral level programs for computer sciences and software engineering, data sciences, analytics and collective decisions, and technology and policy, the expansion of George Mason University’s existing campus, and $750 million in upgrades to the city’s transit and rail system that serves the Pentagon City, Crystal City, Alexandria, and Columbia Pike areas.
A map of currently approved housing developments near Amazon HQ2. Credit: HQ NOVA
Beyond transportation, Alexandria and Arlington have allocated $150 million to go towards the preservation and development of up to 2,400 affordable housing units for National Landing and the surrounding areas, which would bolster inventory levels to approximately 6,000 available units.
Amazon is investing $2.5 billion in the development of the 4 million-square-foot HQ2 and expects that 25,000 new jobs will come to the area. The retail giant says they plan to double the headquarter’s size by 2030.
“We are looking forward to joining the community and are excited to be creating high-paying jobs in Arlington,” said Amazon Director of WW Economic Development Holly Sullivan in a prepared statement.
“We believe that northern Virginia is a great place for our teams to keep inventing on behalf of our customers.”
