Amazon offers $20 million for affordable housing for more office space

ARLINGTON, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - Amazon wants its new home for HQ2 to change zoning rules in exchange for a large contribution to pay for affordable housing.

County documents spell out the plan and the offer of $20 million, which would be the largest developer contribution to the county's housing fund.

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Amazon is seeking to build two 22-story towers in Crystal City, and needs about 500,000 square feet more office space than current zoning regulations allow.

The county is recommending the amendment to the zoning, which would allow Amazon to have more than two million square feet between the two towers.

The group For Us Not Amazon opposed the company bringing its second headquarters to Arlington and also opposes the deal for more space.

"We recognize that these simple attempts of corporations like Amazon to buy their access to more space, to buy their access to influence decision making is just a PR stunt that really doesn’t meet the urgent needs that community members have now," said organizer Danny Candejas.

The Board of County Supervisors is expected to make a final decision in mid-December.