As we develop plans for our second headquarters in Arlington, we are looking to foster a sense of place for our teams and community residents. We are looking to build an urban campus that will allow our employees to think creatively, to be a part of the surrounding community, and to remain connected to the region’s unique culture and environment. As with our Seattle headquarters, we plan to invest in developing a new headquarters in Arlington that will grow alongside its neighbors, supporting local businesses, building new public spaces for all to enjoy, and integrating sustainable design features throughout our campus.
In Arlington, this vision is starting to take shape. We have filed our proposed development plans, and we’re excited to share more about the first phase of new construction of our campus. Amazon HQ2 is part of the Metropolitan Park site, an existing urban renewal and development project in National Landing. The first phase of our “ground-up” construction will see the redevelopment of a block of vacant warehouses into two new LEED Platinum-certified buildings, new retail space for area businesses, and plenty of open space for the community to enjoy. These buildings are the first step to creating an urban campus where our future 25,000 employees and the local community can live, work and play.
Here are some highlights of the new site:
Sustainable LEED Platinum-certified buildings
2.1 million square feet of energy-efficient office buildings with state-of-the-art workspaces and green outdoor terraces for our employees in two 22-story towers. Our new headquarters will run on 100% renewable energy by 2030.
Street-level retail and restaurants
65,000 square feet of new retail space for shops, restaurants, and a daycare center for area residents and Amazonians.
New public and green spaces
1.1 acres of new public open space, designed for a variety of uses, including a dog park, recreation areas, farmers markets, and more – helping realize the community’s vision for a large, centrally-located park.
Bike-friendly access
Space for 600 bikes in on-site bike facilities, with plans to construct more than a half mile of new protected bike lanes along South Eads and 15th Streets to help link Arlington’s cycling infrastructure.
Direct access to public transportation
The new site has two metro stations in close proximity, in addition to multiple bus lines and a VRE station. We offer monthly transit benefits and a vanpool program to our employees, and expect a significant number to commute via mass transit, carpool, bike, or alternate forms of transportation. More than half of our employees in Seattle commute to work without a car.
We plan to invest more than $2.5 billion dollars in building our campus over the next decade, driving the creation of thousands of indirect jobs in construction, building services, hospitality and other services industries across the region. In Seattle, where we have invested more than $4 billion in our campus and hired an average of 5,000 people every year since 2010, we estimate that Amazon’s investments have created an additional 53,000 jobs on top of our direct hires.
We are grateful to our new neighbors, and all the elected officials, civic leaders, local businesses, nonprofits and associations who have talked with us about our plans, asked questions, and shared their views. We will continue to listen to their feedback during this process and learn from them as we continue to grow our teams in Virginia.
