Developer JBG Smith announced Wednesday that Amazon has signed its first leases and sales agreements to begin building HQ2 in the area it’s now calling National Landing.
Amazon signed three leases—totaling 537,000 square feet—at three existing JBG Smith buildings in Crystal City. The first HQ2 employees are expected to move into offices at 241 18th Street South and 1800 South Bell Street this year; they’ll move into 1770 Crystal Drive by the end of 2020.
JBG Smith also reached agreements to sell two of its sites in the neighborhood—known as Pen Place and Met 6, 7, and 8—which is where the first phase of new HQ2 construction will take place. Amazon will pay $294 million for the land, where it has the potential to build more than 4 million square feet of new headquarters space. JBG Smith says it anticipates closing on Met 6, 7, and 8 as early as this year, and on Pen Place as early as 2020. JBG Smith will serve as Amazon’s developer, property manager, and retail leasing agent at both sites.
The announcement of the leases and sales agreements follows the Arlington County Board’s unanimous decision last month to approve a $23 million incentive package for Amazon to build HQ2.
“We are pleased to report that our partnership with Amazon at National Landing is moving full steam ahead,” said JBG Smith’s CEO, Matt Kelly, in a statement. “With the execution of these agreements and recently legislated state and local government commitments to invest approximately $2 billion in the region’s transportation, education and housing infrastructure, we are ready to welcome Amazon’s first National Landing employees in the coming months.”
Marisa M. Kashino joined Washingtonian in 2009 and was a senior editor until 2022.
