Amazon to start construction soon on HQ2

An illustration of Amazon’s HQ2 [WUSA9]

Amazon plans to start construction on its new headquarters building (HQ2) in National Landing, the newly renamed area that encompasses Crystal City, in early 2020, the company announced in its Day One blog.

Amazon has already hired 400 people who are working in leased office space on Crystal Drive, 18th Street South, and Bell Street. They are working on cloud computing and new features for Alexa, among other projects.

The company has a long list of job openings in Arlington. The company anticipates the new HQ2 development at Metropolitan Park will employ over 12,000 people by the end of the decade.

According to Amazon, HQ2 will operate on 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.

In addition to two energy-efficient LEED Platinum buildings, Metropolitan Park will have “a significant amount of new neighborhood retail,” a daycare center, 2.5 acres of new and renovated public open space, over half a mile of new protected bike lanes, and a 700-person meeting center that will be shared with Arlington County and community groups at no charge.

Amazon has agreed to contribute $20 million to Arlington County’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund to support the creation or preservation of affordable housing units. That’s critical, as HQ2 is already leading to rent increases across the area.

Amazon’s education initiative, AWS Educate, is partnering with George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College to develop cloud curriculum-based degree programs.