Amazon is essentially creating a new neighborhood in Virginia for its HQ2 — and people are confused (AMZN)

• Amazon’s official announcement about its HQ2 decision prompted a few questions about its Northern Virginia location.
• Amazon posted a statement saying the Virginia portion of its new headquarters would be located in National Landing.
• This designation appears to be created from scratch with HQ2 in mind.

Arlington, Virginia, came out a winner in Amazon’s grueling HQ2 competition — but one detail in the tech giant’s Tuesday announcement left observers and Washington, DC-area natives scratching their heads.

The Seattle-based online retailer says it will split its new second headquarters between New York City and National Landing, Virginia.

The only thing is, most Virginians haven’t heard of National Landing before. The statement prompted suggestions that Crystal City, Virginia, was rebranding itself, the Washington Business Journal reported.

The National Landing designation appears structured specifically for HQ2. The place didn’t even have a Wikipedia page as of early Tuesday afternoon.

Read more:  Amazon officially announces its HQ2 will be split between New York and Virginia

Fortunately, the official page for Northern Virginia’s Amazon HQ2 bid has a section clearing up a bit of the mystery behind National Landing. The website marks a collaboration among the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, Arlington County, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, and Loudoun County Economic Development.

The official page described National Landing as boasting 17 million feet of existing commercial space, 150 acres of land free for development, and 24,000 housing units within 2 miles that it says will prove “affordable at average Amazon income.”

National Landing consists of what the website calls three “connected urban districts”: Crystal City and Pentagon City in Arlington and Potomac Yard in Alexandria. The website also touted the area’s status as a transport hub, promising residents that it’s within walking distance to Reagan National Airport, the local bus system, the Metro, and the Virginia Railway Express commuter train.

“The strength of our workforce coupled with our proximity to the nation’s capital makes us an attractive business location,” Arlington County’s board chair, Katie Cristol, said in Amazon’s official statement.

“But Arlington’s real strength is the decades of planning that have produced one of the most vibrant, civically engaged communities in the world. Those plans have paved the way for this investment, and we look forward to engaging the Arlington community about Amazon’s plans and how we can grow together.”

Observers on Twitter, however, expressed confusion over how National Landing seemed to enter the Arlington scene essentially overnight:

Read more about Amazon’s HQ2 project:

• Amazon officially announces its HQ2 will be split between New York and Virginia
• Amazon finally explains why it’s cutting its second headquarters in half
• Amazon gained a huge perk from its HQ2 contest that’s worth far more than any tax break
• Arlington, Virginia, lured in Amazon with promises of a helipad and a cash grant of up to $550 million
• We walked around Long Island City, the New York neighborhood where Amazon is planning to bring HQ2, and saw why it’d be appealing to the e-commerce giant

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Amazon wants to open 3,000 cashier-less grocery stores — and they’ll have a major advantage over their competitors