An urban agriculture group wants in on one of the most elusive spaces in town: Amazon’s new headquarters in Pentagon City.
The Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture (FOUA) have formally submitted a request for less than 2% (or 1,000 square feet) of the upcoming HQ2 campus to become a urban farm space.
“We believe Arlington is poised to become a national leader for urban agriculture, and the Metropolitan Park project offers an opportunity to showcase Amazon’s and Arlington’s commitment to sustainable, biophilic (integrating the natural world into the built environment) development,” the FOUA board wrote in a letter to HQ2 stakeholders this month.
FOUA said in exchange for dedicating space for the farm, Amazon and the community will reap the rewards of:
- Aesthetically appealing, biophilic focal point event space for movie nights, public or private receptions, exercise classes, etc.
- STEM plant lab for K-12 research
- Public demonstrations of growing sustainable techniques & methods
- At-scale food production for distribution to local food banks.
- Incubator for urban agriculture-focused startups
- Encourage public interaction with local food systems.
Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
There has been growing interest in urban agriculture in Arlington, advocates say, and Amazon could help spread it to an area where there is little land available for growing fruits and vegetables.
“We really think Amazon’s commitment to creating an environmentally-sound campus provides an opportunity to create a public amenity that would benefit everyone,” said Matt McKinstry, a FOUA board member.
FOUA wrote the proposal in light of the upcoming Site Plan Review Committee meeting for HQ2 on Monday, September 23.