Amazon Delays And A Missing Real Estate Frenzy: National Landing Five Years Later
1. In March, Amazon announced that it was delaying construction on Phase 2 of Amazon HQ2, which was set to include three 22-story office buildings and a signature Helix tower in National Landing. Amazon Vice President of Global Real Estate and Facilities John Schoettler said in a statement that HQ2 has “always been a multi-year project” and that the company remains “committed to Arlington, Virginia, and the greater Capital Region.”
2. After hiring thousands of workers in the area in recent years, Amazon has filed its first request for its HQ2 incentive package. The tech giant requested nearly $153M from Virginia this month related to its hiring of nearly 7,000 workers in National Landing, the Washington Business Journal reported. The state still must approve the payment, which Amazon could have requested in 2020 but elected not to.
3. In the five years since Pentagon City, Crystal City and Potomac Yard were rebranded as National Landing, the area hasn't seen the residential real estate frenzy that was predicted, Washingtonian reported. Sales in the area climbed from 139 in 2019 to 189 in 2020 before dipping to 185 in 2021 and 175 the following year. The median sales price in National Landing was $650K in 2019 and the same in 2022.
4. In January, the Arlington County Board approved zoning changes that would allow by-right conversions to several different uses, including animal boarding facilities, urban farms, colleges and universities, breweries and distilleries and artisan workshops. The move was made in response to high office vacancy rates across the county, including in National Landing, which had a vacancy rate of 25.4% at the time.
5. JBG Smith, the dominant property owner in National Landing and lead developer of Amazon HQ2, posted an $18.6M loss in Q4 2022. Despite this, JBG Smith CEO Matt Kelly expressed optimism as the company moves forward with its major plans for National Landing over the next few years.
6. Kimco Realty Corp. revised its plans for redeveloping the Pentagon Centre shopping center above the Pentagon City Metro station. The plans were first approved by the Arlington County Board in 2015 and the new plans, which were submitted last December, involve proposals for new high-rise residential and commercial buildings including two office buildings and three additional residential towers.
7. In October, Huntington Ingals Industries, also known as HII, signed an 11.5-year lease with JBG Smith for a new office in National Landing. The company will take up nearly 37K SF at 2451 Crystal Drive and will have signage rights on the 11-story tower, where it plans to relocate employees to this summer.
