Foulger-Pratt, the real estate investment and development firm that will be remaking the old Landmark Mall area, has renamed the neighborhood.
While longtime residents may have a hard time letting go of calling it "Landmark," Foulger-Pratt has dubbed the 51-acre property "West End Alexandria."
The company and its partners, including Inova, will be tearing down the old, empty mall and building a new hospital and trauma center surrounded by residential, retail, offices and more.
According to Foulger-Pratt, the renaming "marks an important step in what will be an exciting transformation of West End Alexandria. "West End Alexandria will represent the best in what community can offer - a welcoming, inviting, inclusive space for business, medical care, residential opportunities as well as shopping and dining.” The first buildings could open as early as 2025.
Residents aren't so sure about the name, as many consider Alexandria's "West End" the entire area west of Quaker Lane, including the neighborhoods of Seminary Hill, Seminary Valley, Landmark (not just the mall, but the surrounding areas), Lincolnia and other neighborhoods.
Foulger-Pratt acknowledge this, noting on the new westendVA.com website, "The community in Alexandria already exists, we are just providing the infrastructure and the social space for it to prosper."
Early feedback through social media wasn't entirely positive, with residents citing the potential for confusion. "The West End already exists as a larger geographic area; Landmark is just one part of the West End. It's going to be confusing having the same name for two different places," one resident wrote on Facebook.
Other feedback from residents included: "I’m hereby renaming Old Town 'The East End.' Del Ray, too."
Another said, "It is probably the most unimaginative name ever."
For additional information on the new West End Alexandria, visit westendVA.com or follow the new neighborhood on Facebook @WestEndVA and Instagram @WestEndVA.
