Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus in Alexandria is moving north of its original proposed location in order to be closer to Amazon, the university announced Monday.
Instead of being in Oakville Triangle, the new campus will be just feet from the new Metro station at Potomac Yard as part of a 65-acre mixed-use district being planned and developed by Lionstone and JBG Smith real estate investment trust.
The space is at the far east end of the Potomac Yard shopping center development on the east side of Richmond Highway. The Regal Cinemas Potomac Yard 16 and its parking lots are located on that property now.
Oakville Triangle was noted multiple times as a possibility for the new Innovation Campus. The opening of a Metro station and a long-term plan for redevelopment at Potomac Yard were among the factors that led Virginia Tech to change course.
“The campus’s strategic location, on 15 acres just south of the Four Mile Run stream that separates Alexandria and Arlington, positions Virginia Tech and its future partners near the nation’s capital, diverse industries, and leading tech companies, including Amazon and its HQ2 project,” according to an announcement by the University.
The first class of students will enroll in 2020 in existing space in the neighborhood; the new space will be completed in phases over the next decade. Washington Business Journal reported that the space used for the first set of students is still to be determined.
Learn more about the coming campus and its new location at Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus page here.
