ARLINGTON, Va. — Amazon's plans for HQ2 in Pentagon City's Metropolitan Park have been unanimously approved by the Arlington County Board. The plan is to transform 6.2 acres of the park from abandoned warehouses and surface parking into the first phase of the new headquarters.
The approximate 2.1 million sq. ft. mixed-use project will be built at 1232-1450 S. Eads Street and 501 and 525 15th Street S, an Arlington County press release said. Two 22-story towers will sit on S. Eads St., and on a public open space area within Metropolitan Park.
"This project is extraordinary in many respects," Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said. "It will bring us significantly closer to fulfilling the community’s vision of Pentagon City as an urban neighborhood with a better balance of office, residential and retail development, more and better public spaces, and more and better access for pedestrians and cyclists."
In addition to two energy-efficient office towers, the project includes new public open spaces. The towers will achieve LEED Platinum and Energy Star certification, the press release said.
The project also includes a $20 million affordable housing contribution, two new public streets, sidewalk and streetscape improvements, street, bicycle and transit improvements, street level retail space and a shared underground parking garage.
The $20 million includes a $7.5 million "base contribution consistent with the Arlington County Zoning Ordinance and $12.5 million negotiated on top of the base contribution." The $20 million will be provided to the county as either a cash contribution to the Affordable Housing Investment Fund or through the creation or preservation of c"committed affordable units" at a specific project near the site.
"They will be powered by an electric utility plant, with combustible fuels used only for the emergency generator back-up power and for commercial kitchen cooking," the release said.
The underground parking garage will provide around 1,983 parking spots, the press release said. The office buildings will provide 500 secure bicycle spaces for employees and another 120 visitor bicycle spaces around the site.
Green roofs are planned at several levels of the buildings. One-hundred percent of the electricity for its buildings will be supplied by either renewable energy produced on-site or through credits obtained from renewable energy produced off-site and specifically dedicated to offset the energy used on the site.