📋 Tender Overview
The Arlington County Board unanimously approved Saturday a slew of zoning changes and permits tied to the tech giants plans for a new development at Metropolitan Park seven months after Amazon first submitted its application. The vote represents the most meaningful hurdle the Seattle company has cleared in setting up a second headquarters since county officials approved an incentive agreement in March.Although the company has already leased space in Crystal City this project is aimed at helping Amazon ramp up its office capacity and house an influx of thousands of new workers in the coming years. The Met Park development is set to include two 22-story mixed-use towers. The site is currently home to a large warehouse on South Eads Street that served as a gathering place for local officials to celebrate Arlington winning HQ2 more than a year ago.The project will span 2.1 million square feet in all including more than 69500 square feet of ground-floor retail and an underground parking garage for both buildings that will house roughly 1900 spaces. Amazon will formally purchase the Met Park site from JBG Smith Properties NYSE JBGS now that the entitlement process is wrapped up and the Bethesda company will serve as Amazons development partner on the project.When its completed the development will become one of the largest in all of South Arlington. Accordingly Amazon offered up a variety of community benefits in exchange for being able to move ahead with such dense construction including the single largest contribution any developer has ever made to Arlingtons affordable housing loan fund 20 million. The company could send that money to the countys Affordable Housing Investment Fund gradually or provide it as a lump sum to fund a specific project according to county staff.The company has made other environmental concessions when it comes to energy efficiency. Its now committed to reaching LEED Platinum status at Met Park even though it initially planned only for LEED Gold discussions about achieving net zero energy at the buildings however have not yet borne fruit though the company does hope to rely on 100 renewable energy at Met Park by 2030 in alignment with CEO Jeff Bezos climate goals for the company. The board also convinced the company to agree to report on its progress toward that goal as a condition of winning the site plan approval for Met Park.If all goes as planned Amazon hopes to have the Met Park buildings finished by the first quarter of 2023. Simultaneously the company will pursue its other major construction project in Pentagon City office space at Pen Place a 10-acre site just north of Met Park and closer to Army Navy Drive that will serve as the beating heart of HQ2.Amazon has yet to submit plans for that site though company officials have previously pegged a delivery date between 2025 and 2027.
