First Amazon development plans published for Met Park

The first set of development plans related to Amazon HQ2 have been submitted. These cover two buildings at Met Park. Look for this development to enter the county’s public review process in the next few months, with buildout in 3-4 years. 

Details can be found in ARLnow, Washington Business Journal, and blog posts directly from Amazon.

Some items more relevant to our area to note:

• The Met Park sites are already covered by a “phased development site plan” that outlines requirements for the sites including park space and building types.
• The big deviation here is that the Met Park buildings were envisioned to be residential. This proposal calls for the buildings to be commercial. 
• This means over 1,000 fewer residential units in an area everyone wants to live. This will put intense pressure to increase residential density in other parts of the neighborhood.
• This also means 1,000 more parking spaces. Amazon and the county is touting the great access via metro, VRE, bike, etc, but increased traffic will undoubtably be a concern.
• Initial indications suggest the open/public space being proposed is larger than required. This is promising and is consistent with developer JBG Smith and Amazon’s stated intention to integrate into the community.
• Proposed plans for the “main” HQ2 site at Pen Place across from Whole Foods on 12th street have not yet been announced.

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