Amazon just opened the first phase of its HQ2 project in Virginia — take a look inside

• Amazon's Metropolitan Park, the first phase of its second headquarters, opened Monday.
• Located in Arlington, Virginia, Amazon's HQ2 will welcome more than 8,000 employees by the fall.
• Take a look inside the new facility.

Amazon opened Metropolitan Park on Monday, the first phase of its long-awaited second headquarters, located in Arlington, Virginia.

The massive project, spanning more than 2.1 million square feet, welcomed hundreds of employees. More than 8,000 are expected to work there by the fall. Amazon's HQ2 features two 22-story buildings, as well as amenities like rooftop gardens, a 2.5-acre park, and a sizeable retail space.

Take a look inside Amazon's Metropolitan Park:

Amazon's second headquarters is here — well, sort of. The company on Monday opened Metropolitan Park, the first phase of its second headquarters, located in Arlington, Virginia.

The project spans more than 2.1 million square feet.

HQ2 has two 22-story buildings.

One is called Jasper after the code name for a project to enhance customer experience for Alexa. The other is called Merlin in reference to the code name for QuickSight, a product that Amazon says "helps our AWS customers generate dashboards powered by AI insights."

Source: Amazon

The company says HQ2 will result in the creation of 25,000 Amazon jobs by 2030 and indirectly support thousands of other jobs in the region.

Metropolitan Park welcomed hundreds of employees when it opened Monday.

By the fall, more than 8,000 are expected to work there.

HQ2 has eight quick-service food stalls and cafes.

There's also a dog wall adorned with photos of employees' pets.

Amazon famously lets employees bring their dogs to work and includes pictures of its employees' actual pets on its error pages.

Outside, there's a 2.5-acre public park space with a children's playground, dog park, recreation areas, and seasonal weekend farmers markets.

There are also rooftop gardens with views of Arlington, Washington, DC, and the Potomac River.

Besides office space, Metropolitan Park also has 50,000 square feet of retail space. It currently has 14 businesses.

The ground level of Metropolitan Park is open to the public.

Amazon decided on the location for its second headquarters with a contest.

The company initially selected both Arlington and Queens, New York City, before backing out of New York after receiving backlash from residents and politicians like US congresswoman and New York native Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Amazon began construction on HQ2 in 2020.

In March, it said it was pausing construction on phase two of the project.

"We're always evaluating space plans to make sure they fit our business needs and to create a great experience for employees, and since Met Park will have space to accommodate more than 14,000 employees, we've decided to shift the groundbreaking of PenPlace (the second phase of HQ2) out a bit," Amazon real estate chief John Schoettler said at the time. "Our second headquarters has always been a multi-year project, and we remain committed to Arlington, Virginia, and the greater Capital Region."

The second phase of HQ2 construction, not pictured here, is expected to span 2.8 million square feet and include three new towers and a corporate conference center.