Kimco Pitches 3.5M SF Development Plan For Pentagon City Costco Complex
As Amazon HQ2 has brought prominent new high-rises to the Pentagon City area, the owner of the neighboring Costco-anchored retail complex has higher ambitions for the redevelopment of its property.
Kimco has filed a long-term plan for its Pentagon Centre complex that calls for a huge increase in density, with apartment and office buildings reaching nearly 300 feet. The plan, first reported by the Washington Business Journal story, is scheduled to go before the Arlington County Planning Commission on Thursday.
The plan covers 17 acres bounded by 12th Street South, South Fern Street, 15th St. South and South Hayes St. The site was approved for nearly 2M SF of development in 2015, but Kimco is proposing to increase that to 3.5M SF.
It would increase the total number of residential units allowed on the property from 693 to 1,888. County staff has recommended approval of the plan, as it fulfills Arlington's goals of building more density, especially of housing, around its Metro stations. The site sits above the Pentagon City station on the Blue and Yellow lines.
Those totals include two apartment buildings that have already been developed on the western portion of the site, The Witmer and The Milton. The former building opened in 2019 with 440 units across 26 stories, while the latter opened in 2023 with 253 units across 11 floors.
The next phase of Kimco's plan would feature a 25-story residential tower, a two-story retail building and an interim public space located in between the two new apartment buildings to the west of the Costco store.
The longer-term vision would materialize after Costco departs — its lease has 25 years to expiration. The plan for the eastern portion of the site calls for a 20-story office building, a 27-story mixed-use building with residential above hotel rooms, a 17-story residential building and more open space.
The long-term plan also includes a 25-story office tower to replace the public space on the western portion of the site.
This proposal changes the phasing of the project to push the office component to the future phases and build more residential in the near term, a move the county planning staff said makes sense in today's market.
“Staff supports the proposed use mix, given that current trends indicate more demand for residential uses than office in the current economic climate, and the acknowledgement that the Greater Washington Region needs to greatly increase its housing supply to accommodate the region’s growth,” the planning staff wrote in its report recommending approval of the proposal.
Kimco acquired the property in 2004 with a plan to develop more office uses on the site to complement the retail, according to the report. In addition to Costco, its Pentagon Centre complex includes Best Buy, Nordstrom Rack and Marshalls.
The neighborhood's trajectory changed in November 2018 when Amazon selected it for its second headquarters and spurred the rebranding to the National Landing moniker. At the time, Bisnow reported that Kimco was likely the largest beneficiary beyond JBG Smith from the growth slated for the area.
“Our Pentagon Centre Signature Series redevelopment is in excellent position to take advantage of the incredible growth Amazon’s National Landing headquarters will bring to the area,” Kimco CEO Conor Flynn said in a statement in November 2018. “It will be at the heart of this new center of gravity.”
The first two 22-story towers of HQ2 opened last year on the Metropolitan Square site, directly to the east of Kimco's property, while Amazon's future phases planned on the Pen Place site to the north remain paused.
