Biz Talk: Year in Review, Arlington Business Investment

This article was sponsored by Arlington Economic Development‘s Business Investment Group.

2019 proved to be another exciting year for Arlington Economic Development (AED) as it continued its efforts to diversify and strengthen the County’s economy.

AED assisted in recruiting and retaining economic development projects equating to 850,000 square feet of office space, excluding the Amazon HQ2 project, which represents the leasing of more than 6 million square feet of office space over the next 15 years.

“We are proud of all we’ve accomplished in 2019. From working with prospects across diverse sectors and providing assistance to over 150 Arlington businesses, this year has been one of exciting progress following our 2018 Amazon HQ2 win,” said Marian Marquez, the newly named Director of Business Investment for Arlington Economic Development. “We are kicking off 2020 with incredible momentum — while our commercial vacancy rate is the lowest we’ve seen in seven years, we have plenty of work cut out for us in keeping up the momentum and are highly focused on continuing to provide the services and support that our existing business community needs to thrive.”

2019 Arlington Economic Development Highlights

Amazon

Amazon’s Arlington headquarters, which will create a minimum of 25,000 high-paying jobs in Arlington over the next 15 years, began to take shape in 2019. The County Board approved the project’s performance-based incentive package in March, the company began moving into its initial buildings in Crystal City, and the County Board approved for the company to build its twin 22-story headquarters in Pentagon City.

Yext

New York-based technology company Yext announced it would locate its new 43,000 square foot office in Rosslyn and will create 500 new high-paying technology jobs. The company’s CEO cited the area’s technology talent as being one of the key factors for choosing Arlington.

Block.one

In September, Hong Kong-based blockchain company Block.one announced its decision to locate its US headquarters in Arlington. The company’s central office will create 170 new jobs over a period of three years and occupy 47,000 square feet in Rosslyn.

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

After a competitive site selection process, PBS decided to remain in Crystal City and signed a 15-year, 120,000 square foot lease at 1225 S. Clark Street. PBS is one of Arlington’s most prominent corporate brands and is one of the most well-known and trusted institutions in the U.S  The company is an important anchor in Crystal City and a major draw for Arlington’s creative economy and media industries.

Nestlé USA

Nestlé USA announced that it will continue to expand at 1812 N. Moore Street in Rosslyn. Nestlé and sister company Gerber now occupy a total of 300,000 square feet of space — 95,000 square feet more than its original footprint announced in 2017.

Patent & Trademark Office

In October, the County learned that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) renewed its lease for another 15 years at 2800 S. Randolph Street in Shirlington, expanding from 168,000 square feet to 191,000 square feet. The retention of PTO is a major success in Arlington’s strategy to retain its federal leases and ensures that PTO employees will continue to support neighborhood businesses for years to come.