Economic Development: STEPHANIE LANDRUM

The past seven years have been an exciting time in economic development in Northern Virginia, with neighboring Arlington County’s forthcoming Amazon.com Inc. HQ2 project driving significant growth. In 2021, the $1 billion Virginia Tech Innovation Campus broke ground in Alexandria, and the former Landmark Mall is being demolished to make way for a $2 billion project that will include the mixed use WestEnd Alexandria development and a new Inova Alexandria hospital and medical campus.

Landrum, who took over the AEDP in 2015, has built a team that seeks out impactful, creative and oftentimes challenging projects that build on Alexandria’s unique strengths.

Having earned two degrees from the University of Virginia, she has turned her focus to securing an anchor for the former Potomac River Generating Station, a decommissioned coal power plant that sits on the last, largest tract available for redevelopment on the Virginia side of the Potomac River waterfront.

This year, working closely with the Virginia Tourism Corp., she also helped secure the city’s first Tourism Development Financing Program project, closing a funding gap that will result in a $76.5 million historic renovation of Hotel Heron in Old Town Alexandria.