Inova Alexandria at Landmark concept plan shows 175-foot-tall hospital building

Inova Alexandria at Landmark will open in about six years, although the plans and timeline are still subject to change. The proposed 675,000 square-foot hospital is 175 feet tall — about 16 stories in height, and will likely forever alter the Alexandria skyline.

Inova unveiled its conceptual designs for three new large buildings at the 10-acre complex site in a community meeting via Zoom on Wednesday night (March 30). The project, which makes up a fifth of the total land use on the 52-acre West End Alexandria development, accounts for 915,000 square feet of usable building space — 675,000 square feet devoted to the new hospital, 130,000 square feet to a cancer center and 110,000 square feet to a specialty outpatient care center.

“We anticipate putting a shovel in the ground in 2024, completing the hospital in 2028, with the hospital moving in from Seminary Road in the first quarter of 2028,” said Cathy Puskar, an attorney for Inova. “The schedule is preliminary and subject to change, because we just never know what happens in the processing of these permits and applications. So, we give ourselves a little bit of room there.”

That means Foulger-Pratt will have to go to the city for final site plan approval and building permits over the next two years, and construction would occur between 2024 and 2028, Puskar said.

While only nine-stories, the proposed wall height of the  464,000-square-foot new hospital facility is 175 feet — taking into account a tall roof screen to hide hospital mechanical equipment.

“The hospital would be one of only three Level II trauma centers in Northern Virginia, seven statewide, and 270 nationwide, providing 24-hour specialty services for brain injuries, complex fractures, and other trauma care,” Inova said. “The addition of a (Specialty Care Center) would allow an estimated 50 specialty physicians to see patients on the same campus as the new hospital.”

The remaining 200,000+ square feet allowed for hospital space has been reserved for a future expansion at the southern portion of the property.

“That is just an area that allows the hospital future expansion in years to come,” Puskar said, adding that expansion at Inova Alexandria Hospital was impossible due to its limited footprint. “There were needs for expansion to the (old) hospital, but that particular site and zoning really didn’t lend itself to expansion.”

There are also five access points for cars into the hospital off Duke Street, and Puskar said to expect up to 24 inbound and outbound helicopter landings at the hospital every year.

Only one vestige of the former mall will remain — the old 550-space parking garage. It will be joined by a 600-space above-ground parking lot, and a staff-only 300-space underground parking lot (accessible to all three buildings).

The project is designed by Ballinger and Ennead Architects.