Amazon made the long-expected announcement on Tuesday that it would be plopping half of its second headquarters in Crystal City, Virginia. Sorry, a typo: That’s National Landing, Virginia, which Amazon says refers to the area in Crystal City, Pentagon City, and Potomac Yard where it will be setting up its campus, according to ARLnow.
In a blog post announcing the news, Amazon described National Landing as “an urban community in Northern Virginia located less than 3 miles from downtown Washington, D.C.” The company plans to invest $2.5 billion in Arlington County, and is anticipating $3.2 billion of incremental tax revenue over the next 20 years as a result of Amazon’s moving in.
The whole National Landing thing doesn’t seem to be Amazon’s idea, though. According to a website created by development group JBG Smith, the name was a team effort from development authorities in Alexandria and Arlington, as a way to entice Jeff Bezos’ online empire. This isn’t even the first time the developer has tried to rebrand Crystal City—last year it tried to make “Central District,” a name for a couple of blocks near the Metro station, happen. (JBG Smith is also behind the name “North End Shaw.”)
According to Katie Cristol, Arlington County Board chair, having a name for this place that’s not quite Crystal City, not quite Potomac Yard, is just more convenient. “It does become a little unwieldy to talk about Crystal City, Pentagon City, and Potomac Yard inclusive of Arlington and Alexandria,” Cristol says. “That’s not a great brand. It’s a bit of a mouthful.”
And apparently National Landing is meant to be much more than a mere neighborhood: “It really is an identity that signals the connectivity that’s going to transcend neighborhoods and even jurisdictional boundaries through better transportation and better public places,” Cristol says.
National Landing—which, by the way, doesn’t even get close to the right spot when you search on Google Maps—has a tough road ahead of it, branding-wise, especially when you consider that it’s replacing a name as obviously cool as Crystal City. What could help is a cool new slogan, something pithy and cute to put on bumper stickers or whatever other merchandise marketers think works on us. Here are some ideas. If you use them, National Landing hotshots, we’ll expect our check in the mail.
- National Landing: Who Says You Can’t Force A Nickname?
- National Landing: We’re Just Trying To Get A Cava Location Out Of This
- National Landing: From The Producers Who Brought You NoMa, SoFlo, And WoSka (Those Last Two Aren’t Real, We Were Just Testing You)
- National Landing: Your Friends Still Won’t Visit You In Arlington
- National Landing: We Know, We Have Terrible SEO
- National Landing: If You Like It Here, Just Wait Till You See North National Landing
- National Landing: 23,232 Feet From The White House
- National Landing: So Close To National Airport You Can See The Hudson News
- National Landing: We Cannot Help You With Your Amazon Order, Please Stop Calling Us
- National Landing: Just Tell Your Relatives ‘It’s Near D.C.’ When They Ask You At Thanksgiving
- National Landing: Good Luck Describing This Destination To Your Taxi Driver
- National Landing: Your Prime Location For Fun (Get It??)
- National Landing: You Guys, We Have So Much Amazon Money, Like It’s Not Even Funny
- National Landing: Please Move Here, We’ll Give Out Free Cold Brew Or Something
- National Landing: $50 Says This Name Won’t Last A Month
This post has been updated with comment from Arlington County Board Chair Katie Cristol. Reporting contributed by Martin Austermuhle
Lori McCue