According to the Washington Business Journal, the construction of Amazon's HQ2 in northern Virginia is officially underway by virtue of the demolition of a brick warehouse in Arlington. The site, located in Metropolitan Park will eventually host two towers of Amazon employees. Clark Construction Group is the lead contractor on the project and the demo crew was provided by ACECO.
Demolition of this building will be pretty quick, an executive with JBG Smith Properties (NYSE: JBGS), Amazon’s development partner for its headquarters, has said. After that, crews could spend as long as a year digging for the buildings' 1,933-space underground parking garage. The towers are expected to reach their 22-story height by the end of 2022. Amazon employees will start their first day inside sometime in early 2023.
When completed, the buildings will be a combined 2.1 million square feet of office and about 67,000 square feet of ground-floor retail with a day care center. They will reach 329 feet at their highest points, about 67 feet taller than their 22-story neighbor, JBG Smith's residential building The Bartlett.
As part of the deal Amazon made with the county to achieve that density, the company will give some $20 million to Arlington's affordable housing fund and spend approximately $14 million building out and maintaining the green space around Met Park. The company has also committed to building three new covered bus stops and protected bike lanes, as well as installing and maintaining a Capital Bikeshare station.
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