Amazon Signs Major New Lease In Crystal City

ARLINGTON, VA -- Amazon is leasing more space in Crystal City as it continues to grow its second headquarters in the area.

Amazon has leased more than 47,000 square feet of space at National Landing -- an area that encompasses Crystal City as well as parts of Pentagon City and Potomac Yard in Alexandria -- from developer JBG Smith Properties, which owns most of the buildings in the area, according to a JBG statement.

The Seattle-based e-commerce giant signed a lease for space at 2345 Crystal Drive and will move in in the next few months. That now brings the total amount of space leased by Amazon in the area to 584,512 square feet.

“Amazon’s additional investment in National Landing reflects their commitment and the warm welcome they have received through our public-private partnership with Arlington County and the Commonwealth of Virginia,”said JBG Smith CEO, Matt Kelly, in the statement. “The decision to increase their footprint right on Crystal Drive also further validates our repositioning of the retail main street in the submarket. Through our under construction Central District Retail, planned 1900 Crystal Drive projects, and others that will follow, we are creating an environment with strong appeal to a wide variety of commercial and residential tenants. We are thrilled to be able to accommodate Amazon’s space needs throughout National Landing.”

Additionally, JBG Smith that it has executed purchase and sale agreements for two of JBG Smith's National Landing development sites, Pen Place and Met 6, 7, and 8, which will "serve as the initial phase of new construction associated with Amazon's new headquarters."

Amazon announced late last year that Crystal City had won a nationwide bid to be the location of its second headquarters. In a surprise move, Amazon also chose a site in New York and plans to split the headquarters into two sites, but it eventually abandoned its New York plans after heavy local opposition. It has not announced where the remaining jobs slated for New York will go, but it does not appear Crystal City will get them. Amazon claims the second headquarters will bring 25,000 jobs to the area.

"In addition to the Amazon project, JBG SMITH has broken ground on Central District Retail, a 109,000 net rentable square foot entertainment and shopping destination that will serve as the retail heart of National Landing," the statement continues. "JBG SMITH also expects to start construction on 1900 Crystal Drive next year, currently in design for two residential towers with shops and green spaces at the base. The retail components of these two projects are expected to deliver almost 150,000 square feet of street-level retail featuring an Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, specialty grocer, restaurants, bars, and other experiential offerings."