Some early utility work in anticipation of the second phase of Amazon’s HQ2 is scheduled to start next week.
The first phase of the massive office complex in Pentagon City opened last summer. The second phase, located across 12th Street S. from the first phase and known as “PenPlace,” is delayed indefinitely.
Despite work-from-home trends and the company cutting jobs, Amazon has said that it still plans to eventually move forward with PenPlace. The utility work is the first tangible sign of that commitment since the delay announcement.
“Planned construction at PenPlace consists of installing utilities around the site and within the street right-of-way to support the future development and in coordination with Arlington County’s Street Improvement projects,” said an email to the community from Clark Construction.
“Utility work will begin on March 18, 2024 along S. Fern Street, S. Eads Street, and 12th Street S. Traffic realignment on 12th Street S between S. Fern Street and S. Eads Street will be one of the first activities to occur in order to facilitate this work, at which time the sidewalk on the north side of 12th Street S will be closed,” noted the email, sent earlier this week.
Clark says work will take place “within the County’s permitted work hours of 7 AM to 9 PM (Mon-Fri) and 9 AM to 9 PM (Sat, Sun, and holidays).”
The Washington Business Journal first reported on the planned utility work. Amazon told the paper that it has “made ‘no changes’ to its hiring or construction plans.”
PenPlace is slated to include the distinctive, spiral “Helix” tower and a permanent location for Arlington Community High School.
Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey said last year that the Board was told the delay in starting the PenPlace project would likely be about a year.
Garvey told ARLnow last night that, at this point, remains the expectation.
“We are not hearing anything new from Amazon about Phase II,” she wrote. “The expectation still is that they will move forward with Phase II this year. I believe they are evaluating how office space is being used post-pandemic to inform what they ultimately build.”
“In other words, as far as we know, nothing has changed,” she said.
A planned apartment complex is set to have even more affordable housing.
Speakers at an Arlington County Board meeting on Tuesday were divided in their thoughts about the Board’s unanimous vote to approve 88 units of additional affordable housing at 1900 S. Eads Street, in the Crystal City area.
Most spoke in favor of the change, which will make 743 of 844 planned units at Crystal House Apartments affordable.
Area resident Ben D’Avanzo said many of his neighbors are seeing high rent increases and struggling to make ends meet. While he said the neighborhood “wasn’t thrilled” with the original approval process for the apartment complex, D’Avanzo has since come on board with the project.
“This is something that is incredibly important to approve and I urge you to do so,” he said.
But Stacy Meyer, vice president of the Aurora Highlands Civic Association, has had no such change of heart.
She pointed out that the complex’s planned affordable units lack previously proposed amenities such as full balconies and a rooftop pool — a shift that she sees as “unfair to its future residents.”
Meyer argued the county’s approach to updating the Crystal House site plan, initially approved in 2019, circumvented additional opportunities for input. By pursuing changes to each building as separate minor site plan amendments, she said, the plans did not receive additional oversight from bodies such as the Site Plan Review Committee.
“The county appears to be working without regard to the future residents, fiscal transparency, the neighborhood income impacts or equitability in schools,” she said. “It’s a heavy-handed approach that we believe needs tempering.”
A letter from the AHCA to the county argues this approach “leads to the slippery slope that produced the failed inequitable public housing of the last century.”
It also took shots at the design, saying it “looks like an economy hotel.”
“When it comes to publicly financed buildings, low-income housing residents deserve the same building quality as the market, just as low-income students deserve the same education and low-income patients deserve the same medical treatment,” the letter says.
To make this development possible, the Board approved a $12.2 million low-interest loan from the Affordable Housing Investment Fund to the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH).
Board member Maureen Coffey noted that most of the planned units are for families and very low-income people, which she believes is key to meeting community needs.
“This is a really impressive and really important thing to do, to get that deep affordability, not just in a one-bedroom or a studio,” she said.
Amazon, which has its HQ2 near the Crystal House Apartments, has played a prominent role in this development project.
The company put up $381.9 million so that the nonprofit Washington Housing Conservancy could purchase the 16-acre site in late 2020, stabilize rent for the 828 existing units and build more than 500 new units.
The purchase was part of its commitment to create and preserve affordable housing as rents rise amid its growing presence. Amazon later donated the land and development rights to the county.
Last January, the county selected APAH and Bethesda-based developer EYA to oversee construction of Crystal House Apartments’ new buildings. Construction is slated to begin in spring 2025 and finish by the end of 2027, per the county presentation this week.
An art studio featuring free classes and a light-up scrapyard velociraptor opened its doors yesterday (Wednesday) in Pentagon City.
Catherine Anchin, executive director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington (MoCA), cut the ribbon for the new Innovation Studio + Store alongside several local officials at Amazon’s second headquarters. The project, a collaboration between Amazon and MoCA, seeks to take a fresh approach to connecting the public with contemporary art.
“It’s really about innovation and helping people to understand contemporary art a little bit better, and get excited about being creative,” Anchin said.
The studio at 525 14th Street S. will rotate through artists-in-residence every six weeks. The first of these creatives, Arlington artist Adam Henry, plans to take an active role in the neighborhood by sketching people and partnering with local restaurants and businesses — in addition to showing off his raptor.
“Our secret is, we make things we like and try to make them, like, really ‘wow,’” Henry said.
The creator soon plans to host the studio’s first class, which will be a vision board workshop. He will also start work on cardboard sculptures with the help of his 17-year-old son and apprentice, who is also named Adam Henry.
Patrick Phillippi, head of community engagement at Amazon HQ2, said the studio is part of Amazon’s broader focus on “being a good partner to this neighborhood.”
The tech giant has already bankrolled $14 million in renovations to Metropolitan Park, adjacent to HQ2. That park hosted the debut of a new farmer’s market when the first phase of the massive office complex opened in June.
New locations of local businesses, such as Conte’s Bike Shop and Good Company Doughnuts, have also opened in ground floor retail spaces since then.
Phillippi said he wants to further the mission of MoCA — formerly known as the Arlington Arts Center — which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. He spoke warmly of his experiences at the Virginia Square museum, which rebranded in 2022, during the ribbon cutting.
“You really just get an immediate sense that art is accessible, that art is open to everybody,” Phillippi said. “And this studio is such a great expansion of that. It is a privilege for Amazon to have you guys here.”
Guests at Wednesday’s grand opening included business leaders, who praised the project from both an arts and a business perspective.
Tracy Sayegh Gabriel, who leads the National Landing Business Improvement District, said she believes the project will serve as “a true cultural anchor” that serves the area’s needs.
“We’ve had a lot of business openings in the last year or so, but our community has really been craving more arts and cultural offerings and programming,” she said. “We’re so thrilled to, with MoCA, have a museum presence in our neighborhood.”
Kate Bates, president and CEO of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, is eager to see how the studio contributes to the area’s sense of community.
“The culture is a huge, important part of what makes Arlington a great place for our businesses to locate in, and those of us who live here as well,” she said. “Congratulations to MoCA. We look forward to 50 more wonderful years and then some.”
Makers Union, an upscale gastropub, is set to open its doors on the ground floor of Amazon’s second headquarters in Pentagon City next week.
Its first day open will be Tuesday, Dec. 5, according to the restaurant’s website.
This is the third Makers Union location in the D.C. area, following the debut of its Reston location three years ago and a recent opening at the Wharf in early October.
Open seven days a week, the 3,075 square-foot restaurant serves lunch and dinner on weekdays, and brunch and dinner on weekends. A happy hour is available from 3-6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and live music is scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
“It’s designed to be a pub where you can come and celebrate any of life’s occasions, whether that be wings and a beer at the bar, watching a football game, or coming in and enjoying some more elevated options,” Makers Union Director of Operations Alex Brown told to ARLnow.
The restaurant seats 84 indoors, including 34 at the bar and 50 in the dining area, and 80 outdoors, he said.
Brown recommended a few menu items, including the tomahawk steak with poached eggs, hollandaise and breakfast potatoes, and the grilled chicken alfredo pasta with garlic bread.
Makers Union joins a slew of new businesses and eateries, including Good Company Doughnuts & Coffee and Conte’s Bike Shop, on the ground floor of the first phase of Amazon’s second headquarters, also known as Metropolitan Park, which opened earlier this summer.
Last month, Peruvian Brothers, a D.C.-based Peruvian food truck and fast-casual eatery, opened its second location adjacent to the gastropub.
Thompson Hospitality, the pub’s owner, operates other local favorites including Matchbox, Big Buns Damn Good Burgers and Wiseguy Pizza.
Menorah lights are set to brighten up Arlington after Hanukkah begins next Friday.
On Sunday, Dec. 10 at 5 p.m., Chabad Lubavitch of Alexandria-Arlington, a local branch of the global Jewish outreach organization, will light its “giant 9-foot Menorah.”
The annual event will take place at Chabad’s community center at 1307 N. Highland Street in Clarendon.
The celebrations extend to Monday, Dec. 11, with another giant menorah lighting at 5:30 p.m. at Metropolitan Park (1330 S. Fair Street), close to Amazon’s second headquarters in Pentagon City.
Both events will have “lively Chanukah music” to set the festive mood, according to their respective event descriptions. Attendees can indulge in hot potato latkes, hot cocoa, donuts and chocolate gelt. They will also receive a complimentary dreidel.
Admission is free but registration is required, as reservations are open until each event reaches capacity.
“Security will be present” at both events, Chabad Lubavitch noted.
The menorah-lighting tradition, a fixture for over a decade, often draws local officials. Previously, the events were held at the Pentagon Row ice skating rink and outside the Clarendon Metro station.
This week marks the five-year anniversary of Amazon’s decision to locate its second headquarters in Arlington.
The initial plan had HQ2 split between Arlington and New York City, but a few months later NYC was out and Arlington was the sole destination for the tech and retail giant.
In the five years since, Amazon has completed the first phase of its planned office complex and hired about 8,000 Arlington-based employees out of the 25,000 it says will eventually work here. Disappointing fans of the proposed “Helix” tower, however, it has delayed construction on the second phase of HQ2.
Arlington, and the dozens of cities that competed for HQ2, had visions of emerging as another Silicon Valley with the addition of a large Amazon presence. While Amazon certainly has provided a boost to the local tech scene, it’s hard to argue that Arlington is anywhere close to rivaling the Bay Area.
HQ2 is now a gleaming presence in Arlington, and adjacent Metropolitan Park has gotten a big upgrade from its former days as a defacto dog bathroom, but Pentagon City lacks the throngs of security-badged employees that one might expect around a major tech headquarters.
Meanwhile, fears of skyrocketing housing prices have only partially come to fruition. After the HQ2 announcement Arlington real estate prices rose disproportionately compared to the rest of the region, the Washington Business Journal reported, but that has since reversed, calling into question the true impact.
Housing prices and tech employment may be objective ways to measure the local HQ2 impact, but today we’re running a poll that takes a different approach: vibes.
Given your local knowledge, how do you assess the Amazon-driven changes in Arlington? How much of an impact do you think HQ2 has actually had?
Peruvian Brothers is officially open on the ground floor of Amazon’s second headquarters in Pentagon City.
The D.C.-based Peruvian food truck and fast-casual eatery officially opened its second brick-and-mortar restaurant this past Friday. The location at 1450 S. Eads Street is only open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. but “dinner and brunch services will launch in a few weeks,” according to a press release.
“We are so honored and excited to bring a large piece of our beloved Perú right to Amazon’s doorstep in Arlington,” co-owner Giuseppe Lanzone said in the release. “After years of perfecting our craft, we’re excited to have a space large enough to share the full experience of our culture, heritage, and flavorful Peruvian cuisine with our community.”
Amazon announced in July 2022 that the restaurant would move into a 2,000-square-foot space within its HQ2, among several eateries, including Makers Union and Good Company Doughnuts & Cafe.
The restaurant planned to open its first phase over the summer in April, however, the opening was pushed back “to ensure everything was 100% ready,” a spokesperson told ARLnow.
This marks a return to the area for Peruvian Brothers, which previously occupied a stand at the Crystal City Water Park before the park underwent renovations to add new food and drink kiosks. The water park re-opened earlier this month.
Co-owners Giuseppe Lanzone and his brother Mario relocated with their family from Peru to McLean in 1997. Before becoming a restaurateur, Giuseppe was a two-time Olympic rower for Team USA.
In 2012, the duo launched their Alexandria-based food truck and catering business. Nearly a decade later, the brothers opened their first brick-and-mortar spot in La Cosecha, a Latin American market in D.C.
Giuseppe and Mario say the cuisine, which includes sandwiches, empanadas, ceviches, rotisserie chicken and a Peruvian stir fry called saltado, is inspired by their upbringing in a port city within the sprawling metropolitan area of Lima.
Some noteworthy dishes at the HQ2 outpost include the pan con chicharrón sandwich — fried pork tenderloin on a French roll with sweet potato slices and a Peruvian salsa called criolla — and lomo saltado, a savory beef stir-fry with tomatoes, onions and fries.
The new space has both indoor and outdoor seating. Inside, a mural evokes scenes of La Punta, Perú, where the brothers grew up, and pays homage to Inti, the ancient Inca god of the sun.
The restaurant also has a bar that serves Peruvian beers, wines, liquor and a frozen cocktail formulated by the brothers: the Pisco Sour Slush.
Introducing Peruvian Brothers at Amazon HQ2 🙌🏽
Peruvian Brothers, the award-winning D.C. area food truck & eatery, is thrilled to announce the opening of its newest brick-and-mortar location on the ground floor of Amazon HQ2’s gleaming campus in National Landing. pic.twitter.com/YHFH94xG38
— Peruvian Brothers (@perubrothers) October 16, 2023
A pair of suspects led Arlington County police on extended foot chases through Pentagon City yesterday afternoon.
Police first responded to a parking garage below Amazon’s HQ2 building around 3:30 p.m. Monday after security observed suspects in ski masks trying to break into a car.
The suspects were later spotted in the area and took off running. Personnel from some federal law enforcement agencies with nearby offices — the DEA and the U.S. Marshals Service — helped police spot the fleeing suspects, according to scanner traffic. Both suspects were apprehended around 4:30 p.m.
More, below, from today’s ACPD crime report.
ATTEMPTED GRAND LARCENY AUTO, 2023-10160155, 500 block of 14th Road S. At approximately 3:30 p.m. on October 16, police were dispatched to the report of a larceny just occurred. Upon arrival, it was determined security personnel were inside a parking garage when they heard an activated car alarm and observed the two male suspects wearing ski masks allegedly tampering with the steering column of the vehicle. Security personnel verbally confronted the suspects and they exited the vehicle and fled the scene on foot. A lookout was broadcast and officers canvassed the area for the suspects. A short time later, officers located the suspects in the area of S. Fern Street and 12th Street S. and attempted to detain them during which both suspects ran from the area. Following foot pursuits, both suspects were located and taken into custody. During the course of the investigation, burglarious tools were recovered from the scene. No injuries were reported. [Suspect 1], 18, of Fort Washington, Md. was arrested and charged with Attempted Grand Larceny Auto, Possession of Burglarious Tools, Destruction of Property, Obstruction of Justice, Conspiracy to Commit a Felony and Wearing a Mask in a Public Place to Conceal Identity. [Suspect 2], 18, of Alexandria. Va. was arrested and charged with Attempted Grand Larceny Auto, Obstruction of Justice, Conspiracy to Commit a Felony and Wearing a Mask in a Public Place to Conceal Identity.
An Amazon delivery driver is facing charges after allegedly beating up a man in the Penrose neighborhood.
The incident happened Wednesday afternoon in a private townhouse development across the street from Penrose Square.
“At approximately 3:07 p.m., police were dispatched to the 2300 block of 9th Street S., for the report of an assault with injury,” Arlington County police spokeswoman Alli Shorb told ARLnow. “Upon arrival, it was determined the suspect, a delivery driver, was making deliveries in the area when he became involved in a verbal dispute with the male victim over a parking issue that escalated to a physical altercation during which the suspect allegedly assaulted the victim.”
”A witness separated the suspect and victim, who both remained on scene. The victim sustained minor injuries,” Shorb added.
Scanner traffic suggests that the victim was found bleeding and was evaluated by medics. Shorb said the suspect, a 30-year-old resident of Capitol Heights, Maryland, has been charged with assault and battery.
Colleagues of the driver resumed his deliveries after the arrest. One who spoke to ARLnow claimed the driver — who was operating an unmarked white delivery van — was harassed by a resident who questioned what he was doing in the private community.
Staff photographer Jay Westcott contributed to this report
(Updated at 2:30 p.m.) Channeling the energy of an iPhone launch, Amazon unveiled its new line of AI-powered gadgets in Arlington on Wednesday.
While a September product launch is typical for the tech giant, this event was the first major unveiling Amazon has hosted at its new HQ2 in Pentagon City — and the top brass went all out for the occasion.
Inside the 2.1-million-square-foot complex, which wrapped up its first phase of construction in June, Amazon employees ushered attendees to their seats in the airy auditorium. Caterers served hors d’oeuvres, kombucha and cold-pressed juice. Pop music from the likes of Dua Lipa and Ellie Goulding played in the background.
Then, an ethereal voice put an end to the bustling activity, leading the crowd in a countdown and asking everyone to “silence their cellphones.”
Amazon Senior Vice President of Devices and Services David Limp took the stage first, making arguably the most consequential announcement of the day. He explained how generative AI — the buzzy tech that people use to create anything from raps to digital illustrations — will shape the future of Amazon’s products.
Limp demonstrated Alexa’s new enhanced AI-powered capabilities talking to the the company’s forthcoming $150 Echo Show 8, highlighting the smart home device’s capacity to comprehend complex requests and engage in more human-like interactions.
“We’ve studied what it takes to make a great conversation over the past nine years. It’s not just words, it’s body language. It’s understanding who you’re addressing. It’s eye contact, it’s gestures,” Limp said.
To create “much more conversational experiences” with Alexa, Limp said Amazon combined the sensors in an Echo — including its camera and ability to detect someone’s presence — with its newest Large Language Models. These “talk to” humans by processing large amounts of text on the Internet and predicting the right response.
After Limp, a cadre of Amazon executives introduced new products such as the $50 Echo Pop Kids smart speaker, the $180 Echo Hub Home, a control panel for managing smart devices, and a more aesthetic upgrade to its smart glasses, the $270 Echo Frames.
Each announcement sparked a flurry of keyboard activity from tech journalists in attendance — with resulting headlines in Engadget, The Verge and elsewhere — as well as applause from employees and stakeholders.
Before inviting the audience to try out demo devices, Limp said he believes this new technology can “redefine” the way people “interact” with their homes.
“Customers have now connected over 400 million devices to their Alexa Smart Home and they’re using Alexa to control those devices hundreds of millions of times each week,” he said.
Most devices will start shipping in October. Customers can pre-order through Amazon’s website.
The full list of products announced is below.
- Echo Frames, $269.99
- Echo Show 8, $149.99
- Echo Hub, $179.99
- eero Max 7, $599.99
- Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen), $49.99
- Fire TV Stick Max (2nd Gen), $59.99
- Fire TV Soundbar, $119.99
- Blink Outdoor 4 Floodlight Camera, $159.98
- Blink Sync Module Pro, $49.99
- Blink Outdoor 4 Battery Extension Pack, $29.99
- Ring Stick Up Cam Pro, $179.99
- Echo Pop Kids speaker, $49.99
- Fire HD 10 Kids tablets, $189.99
The Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) says it avoided a canned goods shortfall with a timely donation from Bloomberg Industry Group.
Over Labor Day weekend, the local food bank said it received more than 3,600 canned goods from the Arlington-based affiliate of Bloomberg, which provides legal, tax and business reporting and services.
In a press release, AFAC says it was facing a week-long shortage of canned food donations, which “threatened to disrupt the lifeline they provide to thousands of Arlington families.”
The donation comes as the food pantry, which serves around 3,300 Arlington families a week, is seeing an uptick in clients. It attributes the uptick to inflation and rollbacks in Covid-era federal food assistance and child tax credits.
“As demands for food assistance exponentially increase due to economic setbacks like inflation and cuts in government assistance, AFAC’s mission to provide essential resources to vulnerable families has never been more crucial,” the nonprofit said in a press release.
That need is particularly acute in South Arlington, according to a recent study, which found the area has one of the highest concentrations of families in the nation who cannot afford basic necessities and childcare.
Overall, Bloomberg Industry Group — which has hosted food drives and helped bag food for AFAC before — collected 14,290 pounds of food for distribution.
“It was our privilege to lend a helping hand to AFAC in their time of need,” says Josh Eastright, CEO of the company, which has offices in Crystal City. “We’re proud to support the great work they do serving our local community, and I want to thank our team for their generosity supporting this effort.”
Last Saturday, employees of another company with a significant local presence volunteered with a food distribution event.
Amazon employees teamed up with nonprofit Food for Neighbors, which combats child hunger in the region, to collect nearly 20,000 pounds of food and toiletries, according to a press release.
After the collection, dubbed a “Red Bag” event, the items were distributed to more than 5,800 students across 42 secondary schools across Northern Virginia, including Arlington Community High School, Gunston Middle School, Kenmore Middle School and Wakefield High School.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Amazon as a Food For Neighbors Community Champion and sponsor of our first Red Bag food and toiletry collection event of the new school year,” Karen Joseph, founder and executive director of Food For Neighbors, said in the release.
The event was part of Amazon’s Global Month of Volunteering, “when tens of thousands of Amazon employees around the world will go out in their communities and do good together,” Melissa Robinson, principal program manager of Volunteering at Amazon, said in a statement.
Amazon previously helped feed Arlington Public Schools families last fall via a $155,000 donation to Food For Neighbors from Amazon Fresh, Joseph noted.