Alexandria Living Magazine
Landmark Mall in Alexandria's West End.
Many of Alexandria’s West End residents have waited a long time for the redevelopment of Landmark Mall. Developer Foulger-Pratt will finally be giving residents something “concrete” when they begin demolition at the site early next month, they announced at a meeting Wednesday night.
“We are very excited. I know that members of the community have long waited for this mall to be redeveloped and this is the first step, taking down the structure that’s there,” said Jay Kelly, vice president of development with Foulger-Pratt. “We are very excited for the support we have gotten both from the community and the City.”
In a project dubbed “West End,” Foulger-Pratt and other partners, including Inova, will be tearing down the old mall and building a new hospital and trauma enter, along with townhomes, senior living, retail and other buildings on the 51-acre site.
The first step in the demolition process is temporarily relocating the transit hub from its current location next to the former Macy’s department store. The new transit hub will open for commuter use by the end of next week. Signs will direct commuters to the new location.
Mobilization and fencing will begin the end of April prior to the start of demolition, which is currently slated to begin in early May. Demolition is expected to last for six months.
The main mall building, the Sears automotive center, the former SunTrust Bank building and the Arlington Forest garage will all be demolished along with two flyovers at North Van Dorn Street and Duke Street at the southeast side of the site. The only structure which will not be torn down is the parking garage on the north part of the site, which will be retrofitted as part of the redevelopment. Construction staging will take place on the south part of the site and will not extend beyond the site boundaries.
Developers will reuse some of the concrete from demolition in the new project and a large amount of steel will be recycled. The majority of trucks and other construction traffic will utilize 395 with some use of Duke and Van Dorn streets. Construction crews will utilize wash down stations and street sweepers to mitigate debris on these two main thoroughfares. The use of water will keep down dust coming from the site and all of this along with noise will be monitored by the City.
Construction hours will be Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. with any Saturday construction taking place between 9 a.m. and 6 a.m. although crews will try to keep the need for any Saturday work to a minimum.
If you are hoping to see the use of explosives on the site, you will be disappointed. All demolition work will take place utilizing excavators, loaders and concrete crushers. While there will not be an in-person area to watch demolition take place, although Foulger-Pratt is looking into installing a demo camera (think the panda cam but less cute) where you and any truck-obsessed 3-year-olds can watch the destruction from the safety of your computer screen.
Following demolition, the site will need a significant amount of regrading and infrastructure. The first vertical buildings will not begin to appear until 2024 and construction is expected to continue until 2028 with the completion of the new Inova hospital.
More information on the West End can be found on the project website, westendva.com, along with a recording of Wednesday’s meeting and future meeting dates. The City also has a webpage about the Landmark Mall redevelopment here.
