4 million-sq.-ft redevelopment of mall site in D.C. metro is approved

When developer Foulger-Pratt led an acquisition of the closed Landmark Mall site in Alexandria, Va., the Washington Business Journal hailed it as the 2020 Real Estate Deal of the Year, and now the 4 million-sq.-ft. development has been approved by the city council.

The centerpiece of the 52-acre project will be a new branch of Inova Alexandria Hospital that will be one of only four Level II cancer trauma centers in Northern Virginia. Also planned for the site are retail and entertainment sections plus multifamily housing.

“This long-anticipated project will not only revitalize a currently vacant site many had given up on and provide significant new economic activity, but will also be a catalyst for redevelopment and enhancements throughout the West End of our City,” said Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson.

A press release from Inova called the former Landmark site “one of the most desirable large-scale underdeveloped locations remaining inside the Capital Beltway” and added that it would revitalize Alexandria’s West End.

The site has long been a destination in the nation’s capital. When Virginia Lt. Gov. Mills E. Godwin, Jr. cut the ribbon to open Landmark Mall in 1965, it was the only mall in the D.C. area to have three department store anchors: The Hecht Co., Sears, and Woodward & Lothrop.