The 4 Sites That DC Has Floated for a New Amazon Headquarters

• October 16, 2017

by Nena Perry-Brown

A rendering of how the Amazon campus could sit in NoMA

One month after Amazon began soliciting offers for a location for their second full-sized headquarters, the District has unveiled the four sites in the city that is putting forth for consideration: the Anacostia Riverfront, the NoMA/Union Station/Union Market area, Hill East and Shaw/Howard University. More details about the plans for each locale are below.

Along the Anacostia Riverfront, the city has identified up to 16.9 million square feet of potential office space across 15 sites, most of which are planned developments, including 1.4 million square feet slated to deliver in 2019, 7.2 million square feet slated to deliver in 2022, and 5 million square feet of land at Poplar Point.

A rendering of how the Amazon campus could sit straddling the Anacostia riverfront

Bringing Amazon to NoMA would spread the campus across even a larger area, with 12.6 million square feet of potential sites scattered across over 20 parcels, including the 2.5 million square-foot Burnham Place development slated to deliver in 2027. Several blocks totaling over 7 million square feet in the Union Market area, with planned delivery in 2021 and 2024, have also been identified as potential office space for Amazon.

Hill East is the neighborhood that offers the closest thing to a blank slate for a campus, with up to 8.1 million square feet of contiguous parcels between Independence Avenue and the Anacostia waterfront. Only one 612,000 square-foot site at Independence Avenue and 22nd Street SE is currently on the boards, with delivery anticipated in 2019.

A site plan of how the Amazon campus would sit in Hill East

The Shaw/Howard University neighborhood would be the tightest fit and would require the most maneuvering, with the city having identified 6 million square feet of developable sites, including everything from surface parking lots on Georgia Avenue to the 3.3 million square feet at and around the current site of Howard University Hospital.

“These locations present an unparalleled opportunity for Amazon to create interconnected, transit-oriented, and sustainable campuses with access to riverfront and green spaces,” Mayor Bowser said in a press release.

Amazon is aiming to construct a full-size campus comparable to the existing one in Seattle, occupying up to 8 million square feet. October 19th is the deadline for headquarters proposals, with a final decision anticipated early next year.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_four_dc_sites_being_floated_for_amazon_headquarters/13136