ALEXANDRIA, VA. — The City of Alexandria has signed Inova Health System, a nonprofit healthcare provider in Northern Virginia, to a 99-year ground lease at the site of the former Landmark Mall on the city’s west side.
Inova plans to invest $1 billion to create a new medical campus that will be anchored by the relocation and expansion of its existing Alexandria hospital, which is located at 4320 Seminary Road. Inova expects the new campus to employ more than 2,000 healthcare workers.
The hospital will include a large emergency room, private patient rooms and a prominent oncology department, according to reports from Patch.com. The healthcare campus will also include a medical office building.
The landowner for the hospital portion, the City of Alexandria’s Industrial Development Authority (IDA), signed Inova to the longest ground-lease term possible. IDA purchased the 11-acre former Sears site recently from Landmark Land Holdings LLC for $54 million.
Landmark Land Holdings LLC is the joint venture ownership comprising Foulger-Pratt, The Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC) and Seritage Growth Properties (NYSE: SRG). Development plans for the remaining portions of the overall 52-acre Landmark Mall site include a mix of residential, retail, commercial and entertainment offerings.
This rendering is the reimagined Landmark Mall site anchored by the $1 billion Inova Alexandria Hospital campus. (Click to view larger image)
Plans also call for affordable and workforce housing through developer contributions and co-location with civic facilities, such as a new Alexandria Fire-EMS station. The project will also feature a central plaza and network of parks and public spaces, as well as a transit hub serving bus rapid transit, DASH and Metrobus service lines.
All together the development will span 4 million square feet, according to the Washington Business Journal.
“This is a monumental first step in the realization of our vision and the transformation that is to come here in Alexandria,” says Cameron Pratt, managing partner and CEO of Foulger-Pratt, a developer based in Potomac, Md. “We are confident this project will have a lasting impact on the entire area for generations to come.”
Built in 1965 as an open-air shopping center, the 715,520-square-foot Landmark Mall was converted to an enclosed shopping mall in 1990. The mall officially closed its doors in 2017 following Howard Hughes Corp.’s purchase of the former Macy’s store, but the Sears department store remained open until 2020.
Demolition at Landmark Mall is set to begin in spring 2022. Fougler-Pratt’s website says construction could commence as soon as 2023, with the first buildings slated to deliver in 2025. Financing details were not disclosed.
— John Nelson