German Grocer Lidl Buys National Gateway Building
Put one in the win column for Arlington: German grocer Lidl signed on the dotted line to invest in National Gateway I to the Meridian Group for $77M. Lidl will fill all of the 217k SF building, which has sat vacant in the Potomac Yards neighborhood of Arlington since it opened in 2010. Lidl expects to move into the building this fall, the Washington Business Journal reports, bringing 500 jobs to the county. In exchange, Arlington and Virginia have promised $14.5M in grant money and infrastructure improvement, and Arlington is waiving half of Lidl's business taxes. Lidl is also planning on spending $125M for a facility in Spotsylvania County farther south. [WBJ]