Amazon suspends construction of second Virginia headquarters

Amazon is suspending construction on its second Virginia headquarters. This is, officially, to reassess their needs in a remote work environment.

Amazon has decided to suspend construction of its second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, USA. The company is advancing “re-evaluating the needs of its office with remote work in mind,”although the decision comes just months after a wave of layoffs that affected about 18,000 employees.

Amazon suspends construction of second Virginia headquarters

The American giant confirmed the information to Bloomberg, insisting, however, that it remains fully committed to the project of establishing a second headquarters (HQ2) in the suburbs of Washington, DC, where it has promised to hire about 25,000 people and invest $2.5 billion. Amazon has already hired more than 8,000 people during the completion of the first phase of this new campus, including two towers in the nearly 20-hectare Metropolitan Park. This suspension of operations is affecting development in the PenPlace area across the street, where the company plans to build three 22-story office towers, a 110-meter convention center and an indoor garden. In addition, this delay could have implications for the entire area as developers,

This is, officially, to reassess their needs in a remote work environment.

“We are constantly evaluating our space projects to make sure they meet our needs and provide a great experience for our employees,” said Amazon real estate manager John Shettler. “And because Met Park will have room for more than 14,000 employees, we’ve decided to delay building PenPlace a bit.”

Amazon’s district-approved plans require the targets to be met by April 2025 unless the giant receives an official extension.

The company selected offices in Arlington after extensive US searches in 2017. Opponents of the project saw this as an opportunity to start a trade war between the states over who would offer the biggest tax breaks. Amazon initially chose Queens, New York, and Northern Virginia before withdrawing from Queens after opposition from local politicians, including Republican Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who withdrew. The company should have received About 10 months after abandoning the New York project, the giant announced that it would continue to build new offices in the Hudson Yards area on Manhattan’s West Side.