Volkswagen of America will move its headquarters, currently in a suburban Washington office park, to a larger high-rise facility under construction a few miles away in late 2023.
The automaker will lease just less than 200,000 square feet covering several floors in a new 14-story office building that is part of Reston Town Center, a commercial and residential complex in Reston, Va., the company said Tuesday. The new location is 3 miles east of the automaker's current six-story building in Herndon.
Audi of America also will move to the new location, as will other subsidiaries including Lamborghini of America, Bentley, Bugatti and Volkswagen Credit. In all, the move will involve about 1,000 workers in or near the headquarters, a spokesman said, and would increase "work force efficiencies and cooperation."
Unlike its existing headquarters, the new building, being developed by Boston Properties, will have in-building parking with provisions for 300 electric vehicle chargers, a conference center and direct access to the newly built Silver Line of Washington's Metrorail, VW said. A hotel will be within walking distance.
"A company focused on the future of mobility needs a future-proof workspace to match those ambitions," Scott Keogh, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, said in a written statement. "This space is designed from the start to be efficient, collaborative and bring our team under one roof so we can keep and attract top talent."
Volkswagen of America moved its North American headquarters to Herndon from the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Mich., in 2008, under former VW of America CEO Stefan Jacoby. The automaker kept the lease on its Auburn Hills building and converted it into a technical center. In interviews at the time, Jacoby said the move was an effort to be better connected to the U.S. customer bases of VW and its Audi sibling brand.
Since the move, VW of America has grown its North American operations considerably, in Herndon, Auburn Hills and beyond. In Herndon, employees of VW of America and its subsidiaries work in leased space in or near the headquarters. The new facility will let the automaker consolidate those operations.
Earlier this year as the coronavirus pandemic first struck the U.S., VW of America abandoned a plan to move its now-cramped technical center from Auburn Hills to a larger complex in nearby Southfield, Mich. That move was expected to involve more than 1,000 employees in total, according to Automotive News sibling publication Crain's Detroit Business. VW of America has since canceled its plans to leave Auburn Hills, a spokesman said.
