Virginia to strengthen tech education in support of Amazon’s HQ2
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| An artist’s rendering of a new Metro entrance in Crystal City. [Virginia Economic Development Partnership] |
While the public debates the pros and cons of Amazon’s decision to locate a new headquarters in Crystal City – it’s good for property owners, bad for homebuyers, renters, and commuters – Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced plans for a major workforce training effort.
HQ2 is expected to bring 25,000 high-paying jobs to Northern Virginia, many of them requiring software development skills. In addition, the relocation is expected to generate more than 22,000 permanent, direct, and indirect jobs in the state, Northam said in a press release announcing Amazon’s decision.
“Virginia’s biggest employment growth opportunity in the years ahead will be in tech – from artificial intelligence to cloud computing to cybersecurity, and everything in between,” said Stephen Moret, president of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, which helped secure HQ2 for Virginia.
Education investment
The commonwealth’s pitch for the project included a proposal to double the annual number of graduates with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and related fields. The commonwealth has agreed to:
- Make performance-based investments of up to $375 million over 20 years for new master’s degree programs in computer science and related fields at George Mason’s Arlington campus and for Virginia Tech to establish a new Innovation Campus in Alexandria. Those funds would require a one-to-one match from the universities with philanthropic funds.
- Invest $25 million over 20 years for K-12 technology education. This investment will support professional development for teachers; create and disseminate high-quality curricula and resources; support summer and after-school programming for students; and facilitate career exposure and work-based learning opportunities in high-demand fields.
- State leaders will collaborate with the Virginia Community College System to craft performance-based community college tech-talent programs.
- With General Assembly approval, the Commonwealth will establish a performance-based tech-talent investment fund through to strengthen bachelor’s degree programs in computer science and related fields.
- Virginia will invest at least $25 million over 20 years to provide college students with tech internships, apprenticeships, and other work-based learning opportunities.
Transportation improvements
The Commonwealth of Virginia, Arlington County, and the City of Alexandria also committed funding for transportation investments.
Virginia agreed to invest up to $295 million for additional entrances to the Metro stations at Crystal City and Potomac Yard, improvements to Route 1, a connector bridge from Crystal City to Washington National Airport, and a transitway expansion supporting Pentagon City, Crystal City, and Potomac Yard.
In addition, Arlington County and the City of Alexandria plan to fund over $570 million for transportation projects, including rail connections, transit facilities, multi-modal streets, and corridor connectivity.
Affordable housing
Arlington County and the City of Alexandria have also committed to fund affordable housing, workforce housing, and public infrastructure, relying on revenues generated from Amazon’s presence in their communities.
Combined, the communities project annual investments of more than $15 million over the next decade, resulting in the creation and preservation of 2,500 to 3,000 units in and around the Crystal City, Pentagon City, and Columbia Pike areas and throughout the City of Alexandria.
The Virginia Housing Development Authority agreed to provide an additional $15 million per year for affordable and workforce housing in Arlington and Alexandria.
Incentives to Amazon
The Commonwealth of Virginia agreed to pay Amazon post-performance incentives after the company has produced new, qualifying jobs with salaries of at least $150,000, resulting in net positive state revenue. Subject to General Assembly approval, the company could receive up to $22,000 per job or up to $550 million in incentives. Additional incentives would be available if Amazon creates more than 25,000 jobs.
Amazon’s new home in what it’s calling “National Landing” has more than 12 million square feet of existing office space and more than 13,000 residential units. The JBG Smith company controls more than 8 million square feet of development within that area.
Amazon intends to lease existing space and purchase land for development from JBG Smith in Crystal City and Pentagon City.
Amazon already has 8,500 full-time employees and 28,000 small and medium-sized businesses that use the site as a platform for sales in Virginia.
The company’s operations in Virginia include six fulfillment and sort centers, three Prime Now hubs, six solar facilities, several large data centers, and the East Coast campus of Amazon Web Services. Since 2011, the company has invested more than $29 billion in Virginia.
This would be a good time to develop Baileys Crossroads with new multi modal transit that would get Mason connected to Crystal City. This could be Mason's ticket to success if they don't fall asleep at their 1970's wheel. I noticed that there was not any commitments in your post regarding Fairfax County.
That would be smart. I find it interesting too that Fairfax was not mentioned. We should all assume that Gross is not interested in creating a mixed use development with good transit ways to the Pentagon. That would end her plans for a government social services building that she would probably name after herself.
Fairfax County doesn't figure into this deal. Maybe next time. – Sparky
These new workers will need housing. Columbia Pike and Skyline would make perfect housing. The County needs to be aggressive and help create new housing opportunities on the border. The problem is I don't think the leadership are smart enough to make Baileys attractive enough financially and livable to attract this work force.
This is where we need leadership to take us into the future and make Mason a great place to live. It's so close to "National Landing" that it would seem an attractive place for all these new workers, but Mason leadership needs to take charge and plan for it now. I have zero confidence that will happen unfortunately.
Anyone with kids will want them to attend school in Arlington. Enough locals already leave Mason for that reason. Other workers can conveniently live anywhere Metro runs. So, I don't see Mason as a destination of choice. – Sparky
Not every Amazon employee will be able to afford living in Arlington, sparky…. Mason will be a top destination purely because of its geographic position and (relative) affordability.
As Chair of the Lincolnia Planning District Task Force, I've had the opportunity to work directly with Supervisor Gross, county planning and zoning staff, county traffic planning staff specifically on the community business center (CBC) designation for Lincolnia – the intersection of Little River Turnpike and Beauregard. With the CBC designation, revised comprehensive plan language which should be completed and approved mid-2018, and a highly motivated landowner, expect real development to begin at Linconia within 3 to 5 years. Similar CBC designations for Seven Corners and Bailey's Crossroads ease developers ability to be creative in their approaches to development. What Amazon brings is demand to replace the exodus experienced after the sequester. I had a conversation with the owner of the Landmark Plaza last night after our Task Force meeting – he and his team is excited about Amazon and as I said, are even more motivated to make great things happen in Mason. Be confident. It's coming.
Blaming the exodus in Mason on the sequestor is a bunch of hoey. Try poor performing schools, ghettoizing Culmore with an highly unproportional amount of section 8 housing, lack of good transit, dirty roadways, overgrown grass medians, boarding houses, vacant buildings and storefornts, poor county leadership and representatio and I can go on and on. Even with the sequestor the surrounding areas had been and are still in a boom mode, but not Mason.
Mr. Shumante, thanks for providing such details. I hope that Mason District will see a revitalization that will benefit all the residents here (not just gentrification). With the arrival of Amazon, big changes are indeed coming down the pike; those who live here will have to depend on good leadership to direct those shifts carefully and wisely. Please do not let us down!
–kda
The district yearns for good visonary leadership, tax paying middle class citizens, good schools, recreation and retail we can all enjoy, and less illegals and crime.
there is no exodus in Mason
TBH some sections of the Providence District that are right next to the City of Falls Church are a mess too. I was there recently and was struck by the difference.
Anon 1:01. The sequester was real. Bailey's Crossroads lost large government contractor office space. Your assertion that the schools are failing and there is ghettoization is anecdotal. If Justice High School is sending students to the top universities in the nation – UVA, VaTech, JMU plus a handful of Ivy League schools, by definition, Justice is not a failing high school. Additionally, the school does an excellent job at reaching the many students of our very diverse neighborhood. If people were fleeing the area, you'd expect empty homes and dropping property values which simply is not true. Can we catch up to Arlington? You bet! Will we? Absolutely. Don't give up. But if you'd like to be part of the solution and not part of the complainers – get involved. If not on one of the many task forces, but also neighborhood civic associations and the like. I've lived in Mason for 27 years and it is WAY better than it was when I moved here. Only one way to go . . . up!
You need to be a little objective here, Mr. Shumate. Touting Justice High as a high-performing school seems a little self-serving given that it only managed to get accredited in the recent past after having lost accreditation. And the "ghettoization" of Culmore is not anecdotal – have you driven through there lately? Those apartments are not well-taken care of at all — lots of repairs needed that I can see just from the street. I appreciate that you want to take Mason and make it better and I think there are a lot of great opportunities, but you need to stop drinking the Kool-Aid and realize we have real issues that need solutions, not sugar coating.
Who are you kidding? Culmore is not anecdotal it is categorically a ghetto with no plans for improvement in sight. The future Amazon employees will not be breaking down doors to live there or next to it.
to tack on… our area got a double whammy. we not only had sequester, but we had brac, which took a ton of gov contractors out of skyline. skyline used to be the most valuable piece of property in fairfax county, but the offices sit mostly empty. I am hopeful skyline can see a resurgence though if rt 7 transit can get on some sort of fast track. Skyline has all of the features county planners want: it has places for people to live, work, and shop all in the same location. What it lacks is real transit and connectivity to bring back the office buildings attractive again.
Once that happens, skyline will once again be an attractive and relatively affordable option for everything from co-working to bigger institutional tenants.
I can't agree with you more that quality transit is what is really needed to boost Mason District.
I know there was talk of running Metrorail to Skyline back in the 70's but its seems Metro deliberately bypasses Mason District. The best we can hope for now is high quality bus service in all the major corridors. That includes Route 7 project, West End Transit way (Alexandria) and Columbia Pike routes from Pentagon to Skyline and Annandale, and also 236.
I feel Mason, while in some respects is close to where Amazon is coming, is still sufficient far and poorly connected by transit to gain any benefits for years yet. Invariably, Arlington and Alexandria will get the most benefit for the next 5-10 years. Mason however could expedite gaining any benefit from Amazon by improving transit sooner than later.
I totally agree with Mr. Longo and the opportunity available if the Route 7 bus rapid transit can be fast tracked.
We need Fairfax County leadership to make this happen.
So far the County leadership has made nothing happen for Mason. Bulova lead the way for Metro to the burbs while she and Penny let the core of the apple rot. So dont expect any miracles until Penny is gone. She has absolutely no interest in making Mason a striving middle class community. She is only intersted in being Bulova's sidekick and building social services and homeless shelters to further Mason's decline.
Dear Anon and anon and anon:
First, to be clear, if you want to be taken seriously, identify yourself -like I have. I'm not afraid to take a position and stand behind it. Culmore? I drive through it every day. I've not sugar coated anything. It is certainly an opportunity area. However, have you proposed a solution? (I can answer that for you – you haven't.) Have you done something to help your neighborhood? (I cannot answer that because I do not know who you are.) Kool-aid? Are you serious? I serve on the Lincolnia Task Force, I'm on the Fairfax County Board of Code Appeals and I'm also President of Parklawn Civic Association. I put my money where my mouth is and volunteer heavily for the neighborhood and county. And regarding Justice, how do you gauge success? Test scores? Outcomes? Outcomes meeting stated goals? Justice High School serves a very diverse community and reaches many students on many different levels. Many of my neighbors and friends have sent their sons and daughters to Justice (aka JEB Stuart) and they have done very well. So, I challenge you to get involved and make a difference. I'm easy to find and live in Parklawn if you want to engage in a thoughtful discussion or need to know where you can volunteer to help.
Yes bulldoze Culmore down like the the City of Alexandria and Arlington has done wiht many of its ghetto housing projects and redistribute your section 8 poor residents uniformly throughout the county. Don't dump them all in one concentrated place in Mason, as the county leadership has allowed.
Those newcomers are not going be living in Baileys or Landmark, dont kid yourselves. Not going to live next to a homeless shelter, section 8 housing or Landmark that is bifurcated by an expressway, Duke Street and enough migrants from Africa to fit in a small country. And to boot…..NO METRO. Arlington was ready for this, Fairfax was too busy figuring out how to collect tax revenue from all the vacancies and the immigrant burden on the schools.