Amazon is halting construction on the second phase of its Arlington headquarters as the company cuts costs, including jobs.
Bloomberg News reported the construction moratorium Friday morning. Met Park, the first phase of the H2Q project, will open as planned this summer. But the second phase, which includes the 350-foot spiral centerpiece called the Helix, will be delayed.
Amazon real estate chief John Schoettler told Bloomberg the company is still dedicated to HQ2, which promises to bring 25,000 jobs and a $2.5 billion in Arlington over the next decade. He did not offer a timeline for when construction might begin.
“We’re always evaluating space plans to make sure they fit our business needs and to create a great experience for employees,” he said in a statement. “And since Met Park will have space to accommodate more than 14,000 employees, we’ve decided to shift the groundbreaking of PenPlace out a bit.”
The Helix is designed after the company's Spheres in Seattle, and would offer alternative work environments for employees with gardens and trees featuring plants native to Virginia.
Amazon has already hired over 5,000 employees assigned to its HQ2 in Arlington, the company reported in September, with workers expected to move into the first phase towers in June.
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Predictions: Amazon Helix Building will never be constructed, or if a building is constructed on the site it will be constructed to look like any other Crystal City office building. Amazon will continue to downsize admin workers and will build and relocate office space to places where the cost of doing business is significantly less than Arlington. Arlington Board of Supervisors who approved the Amazon deal will be out of office and out of Arlington within a couple years.
Why is Arlington tying its economic growth to a major corporation's quarterly performance? Local economies in the Rust Belt were devastated when manufacturing moved South and then offshore starting 50 years ago. Several current and past Arlington Board members grew up there during that era.
I swear some people make comments to see if there still breathing…non of the comments make any sense…insane!!!
Like Libs is some lower form of life and AOC is a monster who's crawled up from the deep. But when all you're fed all day long are lies and BS, you get to thinking this way. It's unfortunate. What a sad, sordid existence. As long as the tinfoil hat is comfortable, I guess you'll get by.
They may as well just put a slide in the helix because the libs around here don't want to go into the office. I wonder if AOC is happy about this.
Libs? I thought they didn't work and were living off of their rebates and government assistance? I guess the narrative is continually changing to fit the current complaint. LOL
I'm sure MTG is happy about this. Or Rep. Jordan. Or any other Rep who is not from Virginia.
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