New Kids On The Block: Fairfax County
Amazon Web Services
Amazon Web Services has selected One Dulles Tower in Herndon as its destination for a new corporate campus, accommodating up to 1,500 employees. Amazon leased the previously vacant 400K SF property at 13200 Woodland Park Drive as the cloud-computing subsidiary of the e-commerce behemoth seeks to augment its D.C.-area presence. If Amazon hires more than 600 employees, a state grant valued at $10M activates, giving Amazon $7K per employee hired in Fairfax County.
Lidl
German global discount supermarket chain Lidl received the Farifax County Board of Supervisors’ approval in January to build a contemporary, 30K SF store in the Chantilly Crossing Shopping Center at the intersection of Lee Road and Chantilly Crossing Lane. The zoning allows for an 18K SF, multi-tenant retail building adjacent to Lidl’s planned store, its first in Fairfax. The company has over 10,000 stores in Europe, most at around 10K SF, significantly smaller than the planned Chantilly location.
According to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, as Lidl expands into the U.S., it will invest $202M in Virginia. Its U.S. headquarters is in Arlington, just north of the Alexandria border. The Chantilly grocery store will also sell household items, clothes and appliances, and will be supported by Lidl’s distribution center in Frederick, Maryland.
Oath Craft Pizza
Oath Craft Pizza has designated the bustling Mosaic District in Merrifield for its first restaurant outside Massachusetts, expected to open with 20 employees this fall in 1,700 SF at 2905 District Ave.
This experimental move could serve to lay the groundwork for a network of D.C.-area establishments in Tysons, Capitol Riverfront and Foggy Bottom, according to CEO Patrik Hellstrand. He said all would leverage relationships with farms to emphasize local, fresh ingredient sourcing. The upscale, fast-casual pizzeria uses a crust made off-site that is grilled and seared in olive oil and takes just 90 seconds to cook in-house.
The concept’s Washington viability has some doubters because of Fuel Pizza’s struggles and stiff competition from rapidly growing &Pizza, which now has 20 locations. Investors seem to feel differently, as the company raised $7M in Series B funding, adding to the $9M it has received since it was founded in 2015.
