Amazon.com Inc. has decided to pause construction on its “second headquarters” in Arlington VA.
The Seattle-based company said on March 3 that it will temporarily hold off on breaking ground on the second phase of $2.5 billion development originally planned to be completed by 2030.
The development’s first phase, with two office towers, is almost complete.
“Our second headquarters has always been a multiyear project, and we remain committed to Arlington, Virginia,” John Schoettler, Amazon’s vice-president of global real estate and facilities, said in a statement. A spokesman said the company has sufficient space for its employees and doesn’t yet need to begin construction for added space, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Stephanie Landrum, chief executive at the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, on Friday said the largest impact on Amazon’s pause will be on property taxes in Arlington County.
“I think we can take this news and still be optimistic about it,” WSJ quoted Landrum as saying. “Amazon’s second headquarters spurred development such as the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, an education and research center that helped the region secure Amazon’s new campus,” the published report said\
Amazon will need to keep construction going if it wants to retain economic development incentives from the Arlington region
Zach Goldsztejn, an Amazon spokesman, said the company still plans to eventually build out the second phase of the HQ2 project and house 25,000 employees. Amazon is set to complete the first phase, named Metropolitan Park, by this summer, WSJ reported. Met Park is about 2.1 million sq. ft. The second phase, named PenPlace, is planned to be about 2.8 million sq. ft..
The second phase of the project proposed three 22-story office buildings and smaller retail buildings surrounded by woodlands, an outdoor amphitheater, a dog run and parking for around 950 bicycles. “The centerpiece would be a 350-foot structure dubbed the Helix that would feature two spiraling outdoor walkways with trees and plants from Virginia that twist to the building’s top,” WSJ reported. The first buildings of the second phase were planned to be completed by 2025.
