If all goes according to plan, Inova will be selling its Alexandria hospital property in the near future as it looks toward building a new, bigger hospital at the former Landmark Mall.
That move has residents asking what will happen to the hospital’s current valuable property in Alexandria’s West End.
Current plans call for the hospital property to be sold and rezoned for single family homes and townhomes, according to information provided by the City of Alexandria: “As part of this collaboration, Inova intends to work with the community to request that the City rezone the current Inova Alexandria Hospital site on Seminary Road to permit a variety of residential uses, to facilitate the sale of the property in advance of the relocation to the Landmark site,” according to a City of Alexandria news release sent Tuesday afternoon.
The announcement was met with mostly positive reactions from local residents, and Inova has already won praise for reaching out to local civic associations about the projects.
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Seminary Hill (Civic) Association President Carter Fleming wrote in the Bring Integrity Back to Alexandria! Facebook group, “While the process of building a new hospital will not be complete for a number of years, SHA extends congratulations to Inova for bringing their vision to reality for our community!”
Inova Alexandria Hospital currently sits on about 20 acres at the intersection of Seminary Road and North Howard Street in Alexandria’s West End. Most homes in the immediate area of the hospital are large, expensive single-family homes. The Apartments at Foxchase property sits slightly to the southeast.
“It is their intention to work with a purchaser to build single-family homes and townhomes on the site,” Fleming wrote on Facebook. “Once the rezoning is decided however, Inova will not be the developer. I can assure everyone that SHA will be involved in this entire process with Inova and the future developer to ensure that any new community built on the site is in keeping with the character of the Seminary Hill neighborhood.”
City officials will be hosting a community meeting regarding the Seminary site rezoning on Jan. 6, 2021, from 6 to 7 p.m. This is in addition to a meeting focused on the Landmark site on Jan. 4, 2021 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Hospital officials will also meet with the Seminary Hill Civic Association later in January.
To relocate an entire hospital, the City of Alexandria, Inova, developers and VDOT will have to work together to ensure ambulances can get through traffic at the new site quickly and safely. Inova plans to offer significant emergency care at the new hospital, by making the new Inova Alexandria Hospital one of only three Level II trauma centers in Northern Virginia.
Some residents are already raising some concerns about traffic, noise and other issues that could come with a big, new hospital.
One resident wrote on Facebook, "Not really thrilled about new plans for Landmark. Feel traffic will be worse, ambulance sirens increase and not sure it will help improve our area."
Another resident wrote that “Landmark owners have differing concerns since there have been discussions about adding a helicopter pad which will [equal] significantly more noise. Then add in the rest of the planned development: Duke Transitway (which may require eminent domain takings from houses along the corridor, new housing and hotels [at] Landmark Overlook, Van Dorn (mixed use plans for the asphalt plant area) and the impacts to this portion of the WE are significant.”
