Amazon is Coming to Town
Get ready, Reston. Internet giant Amazon is coming to Northern Virginia in 2019!
Amazon’s second headquarters, known as HQ2, is being split between Northern Virginia and New York City, locations that best met the online retailer’s criteria including access to a highly educated labor pool, support of local colleges that can be tapped for tech talent, and close proximity to an airport.
Crystal City, Rebranded
The Northern Virginia headquarters will include about 4-million-square-feet of office space at National Landing, a mixed-use urban community that includes Crystal City and Pentagon City in Arlington, and Potomac Yard in Alexandria. Amazon will primarily stake its claim in the Crystal City portion of National Landing, breathing new life into a large number of buildings left vacant by government tenants over the last several years.
Influx of Jobs
Over a period of 10-12 years, Amazon will bring 25,000 new jobs to Northern Virginia, with an average salary of over $150k. Half of the new jobs will be technology related, while the other half will include non-tech administrative positions, custodial help, and openings in Human Resources.
To stay informed about jobs at Amazon’s HQ2 at National Landing, visit Amazons job page here
Infrastructure Improvements
The pending arrival of Amazon to NOVA serves as a catalyst for $195 million in infrastructure improvements, including a pedestrian bridge between National Landing and Reagan National Airport, improvements to Route 1, and additional entrances to the Potomac Yard and Crystal City Metro stations.
College Partners
Both Virginia Tech and George Mason University are already on board with changes to support the internet behemoths future growth, boosted by state funding worth up to $375 million.
Virginia Tech has plans for a one-million-square-foot Tech Innovation campus in Alexandria, focusing on computer science and software engineering majors.
George Mason plans to triple its computer science graduates over the next five years. A new School of Computing and a 400,000-square-foot Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA) are also in the works.
Impact on Real Estate Market
While Amazon will draw from the pool of local talent, job opportunities will likely bring thousands of employees to the area. Locations close to Amazon’s new home that are within walking distance to metro stops on the yellow and blue lines will be attractive to newcomers, with other areas of Arlington and Alexandria, as well as Mclean, DC, and parts of Maryland expected to see an increase in demand for real estate as well.