Alexandria City Council approves plans to redevelop Landmark Mall

Plans to redevelop Landmark Mall have been given the green light. Alexandria City Council approved the plans this week.

The mall has been closed and vacant since 2017. The re-development includes four million square feet and at the center of it all will be a brand new state-of-the-art Inova Hospital.

"It’s going to be a Level II Trauma Center," Dr. Rina Bansal, President Inova Alexandria Hospital said.  "We will have a comprehensive cancer center and a medical office building. With this new hospital, it will give us the opportunity to incorporate more newer technology and to be more innovative."

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Surrounding the hospital will be retail shops and 2,500 apartment and condo units. Some of the apartments will be reserved as affordable housing. There will also be office space, outdoor parks and a new fire station.

"What cannot be underscored enough is this is really a catalyst project for the West End of our city. So much on the West End has always depended on Landmark Mall finally happening so the fact that this is finally happening for our community is really going to make so much more happen in the West End," Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson said.

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The city will spend more than $100 million in public bonds to help with infrastructure costs and to buy the land the hospital sits on. It will in turn lease that land to Inova. Mayor Wilson says the city has been losing tax dollars for four years since the site has been closed and the investment will be worth it.

"Every year we are losing millions of dollars. That’s millions of dollars we’re collecting from our taxpayers to fund the cost of government because nothing is happening on that site. So public investment was always going to be part of the conversation around how we make redevelopment happen. The question is arriving at a prudent use of public dollars so we’re not spending money that we don’t have to," Wilson said.

The redevelopment is set to be complete by 2028.