A virtual tour is now online of the room developer JBG Smith used to pitch Crystal City and Pentagon City properties to Amazon.
Shirlington-based real estate marketing firm Lyons & Sucher designed the space, calling it “the room where it happened” and posted a virtual 360-degree tour on their website earlier this week.
“Typically people in a brokerage situation might hand you a powerpoint or a book or something. But this was super life size,” Jane Lyons of Lyons & Sucher told ARLnow. “And it created a very quick impression of how much we wanted the Amazon account and what we could do in a very short time and also how it could be kept up.”
The 20,000-square-foot space was located in the 12th floor of 1770 Crystal Drive — a building Amazon agreed to lease from JBG Smith earlier this month (and which is currently under construction).
Lyons said Amazon executives visited the room three times over the course of 2018, and before each visit JBG Smith directed her marketing firm to update the room to reflect the latest negotiations.
The third and final version of the room is the one shown on the firm’s website. It starts with a “Welcome to National Landing” mat and leads viewers around a series of freestanding, 10-foot-high walls with information about:
- The history of Crystal City
- Profiles of Northern Virginia and D.C. neighborhoods
- Information on the D.C. area’s millennial workforce and comparisons to other cities
- Connections to public transit and airports
- Renderings of properties Amazon was considering leasing or buying
The space also features a 120-foot-long floor map of Crystal City that designers marked up to show different features depending on what JBG Smith wanted to highlight.
“It was fabricated to allow it to be updated,” said Lyons. “It was a huge print job.”
One of the other changes to the room was that the marketing firm was asked to switch out the individual building renderings along the main 64-foot wall with a 64-foot aerial image of Crystal City and its connections to Alexandria, the Potomac, and D.C.
“That one stayed up for the third visit,” she noted.
Lyons said she was not able to share the all details of the changes her firm made to the room or any still pictures, due to a non-disclosure agreement.
However, the space shown on the website offers some clues as to what Amazon found important. The floor map, for instance, notes the location of Metro stations, walking distances between certain buildings, a place for outdoor dining, and the site of a potential school.
A spokesman for JBG Smith declined to comment for the story.
Earlier this month, the developer inked its deal with Amazon to lease three office buildings in Crystal City — 241 18th Street S., 1800 S. Bell Street, and 1770 Crystal Drive — and to sell a pair of large Pentagon City development sites to the company.
In March, the County Board cleared the way for Amazon to begin developing its second headquarters in earnest by unanimously approving a controversial package granting $23 million in incentives to the company if it meets certain hiring and occupancy benchmarks.
The Virginia General Assembly approved a $750 million state incentive package for the company this winter.
Arlington also pledged to fund $28 million in transportation upgrades near the planned headquarters, and to forward public records requests concerning Amazon to the company.
An Amazon spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
Lyons’ firm was asked to replace an aerial image showing connections to transit networks with a video showing building renderings along Crystal Drive; otherwise, the presentation to one of the world’s biggest technology companies was an analog one.
“When you are working to impress somebody who has the best tech ever they’re not going to be impressed by tech,” Lyons said, adding that that being able to physically interact with the space was “part of the magic.”
As for the room itself?
“It’s gone now,” said Lyons, explaining that the building is now being renovated. “It doesn’t exist anymore.”
Screenshots via Lyons & Sucher’s website
Recent Stories
A look at the most and least expensive townhouses sold in Arlington last month, August 2023.
High school-based behavioral health services could be in place by November or December of this year, according to the county. In the wake of a mini-rash of student deaths earlier this…
Get into the fall spirit at National Landing’s can’t-miss Oktoberfest event on Saturday, September 30! Featuring a traditional Bavarian Steinholding competition, best-dressed contest, lawn games, clove decor for kids, beer…
This weekend, the Arlington County Board is set to consider a proposal to funnel nearly $400,000 into the second phase of the Bluemont Junction Trail safety project. Phase 2 includes…
WOW 1 DAY PAINTING brings people a fast, affordable, and high-quality solution for all of their interior or exterior residential and commercial painting projects. We respect your time as much as you do and provide the quality paint job you expect, in a timeline that is unexpected.
Schedule a consult today:
T. (202) 845-7899
District Cutlery is celebrating their 10th and 11th anniversaries this week (we forgot last year) and offering customers 25% off all sharpening services. Walk-in service at Union Market is welcome or you can make arrangements for mail-in service on their website. Typical turn-around is less than an hour (but sometimes the queue gets long).
DMV’s professional chefs and passionate home cooks have trusted the District Cutlery with their knives for over 10 years. You can see pictures of their work @districtcutlery Instagram. They also specialize in sharpening styling shears, scissors and smaller garden tools and axes.
NY Cat Film Festival
Experience through film the beauty of our relationships to cats. This unique film is a compilation of shorts with a feline theme which premieres every year in New York City and then travels to venues across the United States. This
First Baby? Find Your New Mom Tribe!
Whether you’re expecting your first or you just had your first baby, we want to meet YOU! All those feelings you’re having are NORMAL and it’s not just you, so please don’t isolate yourself (that’s quicksand)! Join us for a
