Arlington County Board Approves Master Plan for Amazon-Funded Metropolitan Park

• September 14th 2020

by Nena Perry-Brown

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Much has been made of the plans for Metropolitan Park and the impending arrival of the Amazon banana stand to Arlington. On Saturday, the Arlington County Board voted to approve a master plan and design guidelines for the site.

The approved plan will refresh the nearly 2.5 acres along the east side of the 1300 block of S. Fair Street (map). Besides the banana stand, the park will include:

• A 2,300 square-foot "edible garden" with community seating;
• An 8,800 square-foot Central Green with capacity for several hundred people that will occasionally host movie nights and festivals;
• An Overlook with trellis and swings;
• A 5,000 square-foot public playground;
• A private Children’s Garden operated by an adjacent planned daycare facility;
• A café terrace with built-in seating wall;
• Two dog runs, for small and large dogs, totaling 4,000 square feet;
• Hammocks, lounge chairs, and other seating;
• Public art; and
• Gateways on the south and east ends of the site.

James Corner Field Operations is the park designer and the park is being completed in partnership with the Department of Parks and Recreation. Amazon and JBG Smith will also construct a pair of 22-story office-over-retail buildings framing the site; the development on Metropolitan Park sites 6, 7, and 8 is expected to be complete in 2023.

Additional renderings are below.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/arlington-county-board-approves-master-plan-for-metropolitan-park/17281.