JBG SMITH Expands Development in National Landing Area

JBG SMITH, the lead developer in Amazon’s massive HQ2 project in the National Landing site spanning Arlington and Alexandria across the Potomac from DC, has unveiled yet another mixed-use project in the area.

JBG, which already has broken ground on two multifamily towers at National Landing this year, unveiled plans this week for a 36-acre project on a site in proximity to National Landing.

The project, which will subsume the existing three-building, 1,676-unit RiverHouse apartment community, will fill parking lots in the area with several new multifamily buildings that will had more than 1,600 apartment units and condos.

Bradley Site Design, BCT Design Group, Hybrid Architecture and Torti Gallas + Partners, will design and engineer the new housing, which will include a 185-unit senior living community, 265 rental townhomes, three mid-rise apartment buildings totaling 1,000 units and a 164-unit condo development.

The townhomes will include a mix of common-area and private outdoor spaces. The development also will include 30K SF of retail space and more than seven acres of new public parks featuring 800 newly planted trees, a two-way protected cycle track and several public art installations.

In June, JBG sold two assets in the DC area for a combined total of $344 million.

The firm sold its 12-acre PenPlace development site to Amazon for $198 million. The e-commerce retailer will utilize the site for the second phase of its HQ2. Arlington County (the city of Arlington also is a county) this year granted approval for the site to house 3.2M SF of office space, more than 100K SF of retail space and 2.75 acres of public open space.

The PenPlace sale was used to facilitate a like-kind exchange for JBG SMITH’s purchase of The Batley, a 432-unit apartment building in DC which closed in 2021.

JBG additionally closed the sale of an 11-story trophy office asset, located at 1900 N St. in DC’s central business district. The firm sold the mixed-use office building to the German company Commerz Real, through its open-ended real estate fund Hausinvest. 1900 N St. consists of 261K SF of office space and nearly 9,000K SF of street-level retail space.

Delivered in 2019, the office building was a joint-venture between JBG and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. JBG SMITH will continue to serve as property manager and leasing agent.

In January, JBG broke ground on two multifamily towers at 2000 and 2001 South Bell St. in Arlington.

Located in the heart of National Landing, the two projects will feature 775 apartments and about 27K SF of retail. The building at 2000 South Bell St. will be a 25-story modern glass tower featuring 355 multifamily units above 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Situated next door, 2001 South Bell St. is a 420-unit, 19-story tower with 10,000K SF of street-level retail.