Classes will start in the first building at the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus next week for about 450 enrolled students, the university announced.
The Innovation Campus, just northeast of Potomac Yard, will offer two Masters programs, in Computer Engineering and in Computer Science and Applications.
Originally announced in 2018 under Mayor Allison Silberberg, the $1 billion campus was floated for Oakville Triangle, where an Inova facility just opened and where retail and residences are currently under construction. Later in 2019, Virginia Tech announce it would build northeast of Potomac Yard, near the Metro station, as part of a 65-acre mixed-use district. The announcement that Virginia Tech was investing $1 billion in Alexandria came on the same day that Amazon announced the location of its HQ2.
The first building, which is 11-stories tall and 300,000 sq. ft., completed construction in December.
“The students are going to be in an amazing facility that’s designed for them to do the kinds of work they’re doing,” said Lance Collins, Innovation Campus vice president and executive director. “There are research facilities, the new classrooms are amazing and are really high-tech. … This is just a very large moment for the Innovation Campus.”
There are two more buildings planned for some point in the future. JBG Smith had also planned a significant development of residential, retail, offices and more just south of the three academic buildings, but construction has not started due in part to the high cost of construction and high interest rates.
“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 Innovation students enrolled in 2020 in existing buildings in Falls Church.
The opening celebration and ribbon cutting will take place Feb. 28, with keynote speaker Regina Dugan. president and CEO of Wellcome Leap, a health nonprofit. Dugan is a Virginia Tech graduate.