In late September, Inova Health System broke ground on two new hospitals — one in Alexandria and the other in Springfield, the start of a new phase for the Falls Church health system.
Both acute-care hospitals are expected to be completed in 2028, officials say. Inova Alexandria, which will sit on the former Landmark Mall site, will replace the existing Inova Alexandria Hospital, and Inova Franconia-Springfield will join Inova HealthPlex as the health system’s first hospital in Springfield.
The new hospitals aim to update Inova’s offerings to patients, says Heather Russell, Inova’s vice president for eastern region development.
“Our current Alexandria hospital … is out-of-date and needs to be replaced. [This project provides] us an opportunity to rightsize our facilities,” Russell says. “It has really provided us an opportunity to look at the future of health care delivery and standardize our processes.”
Combined, the two projects are expected to cost $2 billion and span more than 1.4 million square feet, with Alexandria’s facility measuring in at 838,000 square feet. Initially, neither of the hospitals will be designated as trauma centers, but Inova will likely pursue trauma certification in the future, according to Russell.
In addition to the new hospital, Alexandria’s Inova campus will include a new cancer center, medical office building and garage, taking up about half of the former Landmark Mall’s 52-acre lot, which the health system is leasing from the City of Alexandria.
The other half of the site is being developed by real estate developer Foulger Pratt into WestEnd Alexandria, a retail and residential community.
“[The hospital complex] will very much be a sort of town center with a medical theme, because you’re going to have this acute-care hospital and cancer center as the anchor,” says Stephanie Landrum, president and CEO of the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership.
Inova’s plans for Springfield are more straightforward. The health system purchased the site years earlier and is planning to include a hospital, medical office building and garage there, according to Tom McDuffie, president of Inova Realty, the health system’s real estate branch.
In November, Inova is also set to open a health center near Potomac Yard and National Landing, a facility that will include an emergency room, outpatient services, doctors’ offices and an ambulatory surgery center.
Three weeks after U.S. Sen. Mark Warner lambasted a decision to place the FBI headquarters in Maryland instead of Springfield as “corrupt,” the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. General Services Administration said Thursday it would launch an investigation immediately, according to a letter made public by Warner’s office.
In the letter dated Nov. 30, acting Inspector Gen. Robert Erickson wrote that his office “is initiating an evaluation of GSA’s selection of the site. Our objective will be to assess the agency’s process and procedures for the site selection to relocate the FBI headquarters.”
The probe comes after Warner, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and almost all of Virginia’s congressional delegation — as well as FBI director Christopher Wray — all raised concerns about the GSA’s decision to build a new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt, Maryland, on land owned by the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority.
Although Warner, a Democrat who serves as chairman of the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence, and Kaine expressed disappointment on Nov. 8 when the GSA’s choice was made public, his tone changed to anger by the next morning. Early on Nov. 9, Wray sent an email to the entire FBI workforce raising concerns that a former political appointee to the GSA who previously worked at WMATA had overridden the recommendation of a three-person panel — including two longtime GSA officials and one career FBI official — that the FBI headquarters be placed in Springfield, in southern Fairfax County, on property owned by the GSA.
Upon reading a draft of the GSA executive’s report, FBI officials “expressed concern that elements of the site selection plan were not followed,” Wray wrote. “In particular, the FBI observed that, at times, outside information was inserted into the process in a manner which appeared to disproportionately favor Greenbelt, and the justifications for the departures from the panel were varied and inconsistent.” He also wrote that FBI officials “raised a serious concern about the appearance of a lack of impartiality by the GSA senior executive, given the executive’s previous professional affiliation with the owner of the selected site.”
According to an Engineering News-Record article, Nina M. Albert, WMATA’s former top real estate official, was appointed commissioner of GSA’s Public Buildings Service in 2021 by the Biden White House. However, Albert left the GSA and became Washington, D.C.’s deputy mayor of planning and economic development in October, according to The Washington Post. Wray did not include Albert’s name in his email.
In the hours after Wray sent his email, Kaine, Warner, Youngkin and U.S. Reps. Don Beyer, Gerry Connolly, Jen Kiggans, Jennifer McClellan, Bobby Scott, Abigail Spanberger, Jennifer Wexton and Rob Wittman sent out a statement condemning “political interference” in the site selection decision. Warner went on to say during a news conference later that day that he was “shocked” at Wray’s email and called the override of the panel’s recommendation “outrageous. This whole process needs to be thrown out and restarted.”
On Nov. 15, the same group of Virginia congressional lawmakers, with the addition of U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, wrote to the GSA’s Office of the Inspector General to request an investigation into the selection process, arguing that the GSA “administered a site selection process fouled by political considerations and alleged impropriety – one that was repeatedly curated to arrive at a predetermined outcome.”
The letter continues, stating that the political appointee, again unnamed in the elected officials’ letter, “promptly left the federal government” after directing that the FBI headquarters be built in Maryland, “implicating Congress’s ability to engage with this individual in an oversight capacity. In defending the indefensible, GSA has decided to proceed with the selection of Greenbelt over the objections of its client agency, the FBI. These facts, when taken together, paint an ugly picture of a fatally flawed procurement that demands further investigation.”
Thursday, after receiving Erickson’s letter confirming the investigation, the same group of Virginia congressional leaders issued a statement praising the decision: “We applaud the inspector general for moving quickly and encourage him to move forward to complete a careful and thorough review. In the meantime, the GSA must pause all activities related to the relocation until the IG’s investigation is complete.”
The director of communications at Albert’s office said Thursday they had no comment at this time.
The new FBI headquarters would replace the aging J. Edgar Hoover FBI building in Washington, D.C. A second location in Prince George’s County, Maryland, was under consideration in addition to the Greenbelt and Springfield properties. In the past two years, the Springfield site has been promoted by Kaine, Warner and Youngkin as a natural fit for the headquarters, where between 750 and 1,000 people would work, due to its proximity to the FBI’s Quantico training facility and other intelligence sites. The project also is expected to bring thousands of other jobs and an economic boost to the region.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Nov. 9 that the General Services Administration’s selection of Greenbelt, Maryland, instead of Fairfax County for the new FBI headquarters was a “corrupt” process, and that he expected better from the Biden administration.
Warner’s comments followed an email that day from FBI Director Christopher Wray to the agency’s entire workforce, saying that a former political appointee to the GSA overrode a three-person panel’s unanimous recommendation to build the FBI’s new headquarters in Springfield.
In a bipartisan statement, Warner, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and almost all of Virginia’s congressional delegation called for a reversal of the decision, condemning “political interference” in the site selection.
The location for the new headquarters, replacing the FBI’s aging J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C., has long been under discussion, with Virginia and Maryland officials competing for the new office, which is expected to bring in 750 to 1,000 jobs and an economic boost.
In a two-part site selection process, two career GSA officials and a longtime FBI official evaluated two locations in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and a location in Springfield, and the panelists unanimously recommended 58 acres in Springfield already owned by the GSA. However, during the second phase of site selection, a senior GSA executive appointed by the White House recommended the Maryland site.
Wray wrote in his email that upon reading a draft of that GSA executive’s report, FBI officials “expressed concern that elements of the site selection plan were not followed. In particular, the FBI observed that, at times, outside information was inserted into the process in a manner which appeared to disproportionately favor Greenbelt.”
FBI officials “raised a serious concern about the appearance of a lack of impartiality by the GSA senior executive,” Wray wrote. Without naming the executive, he noted that the person had worked for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which owns the Greenbelt property.
Nina M. Albert, WMATA’s former top real estate official, was named commissioner of GSA’s Public Buildings Service in 2021. However, Albert left the GSA in October and is now Washington, D.C.’s deputy mayor of planning and economic development. Albert’s representative did not return messages seeking comment.
Warner said he and other officials will call on the Biden administration for a general inspector review. “This whole process needs to be thrown out and restarted.”
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Thursday that the FBI headquarters site selection — choosing Greenbelt, Maryland, over Springfield — was “corrupt” and that he expected better from the Biden administration. Warner’s comments followed a Thursday morning email by FBI director Christopher Wray to the agency’s entire workforce, saying that a former political appointee to the General Services Administration overrode a three-person panel’s unanimous recommendation to build the FBI’s new headquarters in Springfield.
Warner, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and almost all of Virginia’s congressional delegation called for a reversal of the decision in a bipartisan statement Thursday afternoon.
In a two-part site selection process, two career GSA officials and a longtime FBI official evaluated two locations in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and a location in Springfield, and the panelists unanimously recommended 58 acres in Springfield already owned by the GSA. However, during the second phase of site selection, a senior executive at GSA who was appointed by the White House recommended the Maryland site.
Wray wrote in the email, which Virginia Business obtained Thursday afternoon, that upon reading a draft of the GSA executive’s report, FBI officials “expressed concern that elements of the site selection plan were not followed. In particular, the FBI observed that, at times, outside information was inserted into the process in a manner which appeared to disproportionately favor Greenbelt, and the justifications for the departures from the panel were varied and inconsistent.”
Also, Wray wrote, FBI officials “raised a serious concern about the appearance of a lack of impartiality by the GSA senior executive, given the executive’s previous professional affiliation with the owner of the selected site.” While not naming the executive, the email states that the person recently worked for Washington Metro Area Transit Authority, which owns the Greenbelt property.
According to an Engineering News-Record article, Nina M. Albert, WMATA’s former top real estate official, was named commissioner of GSA’s Public Buildings Service in 2021. However, Albert left the GSA in October and is now working as Washington, D.C.’s deputy mayor of planning and economic development, according to her LinkedIn page. Albert’s communications director did not immediately return messages requesting comment Thursday afternoon.
Later Thursday, after The Washington Post reported on Wray’s criticism, Kaine, Warner, Youngkin and U.S. Reps. Don Beyer, Gerry Connolly, Jen Kiggans, Jennifer McClellan, Bobby Scott, Abigail Spanberger, Jennifer Wexton and Rob Wittman sent out a statement condemning “political interference” in the site selection decision.
“We are deeply disturbed to learn that a political appointee at the General Services Administration overruled the unanimous recommendation of a three-person panel comprised of career experts from the GSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation concluding that Springfield, Virginia, is the site best suited for the new FBI headquarters,” the Virginia officials’ statement says. “We have repeatedly condemned political interference in the independent, agency-run site selection process for a new FBI headquarters. Any fair weighing of the criteria points to a selection of Virginia. It is clear that this process has been irrevocably undermined and tainted, and this decision must now be reversed.”
The J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington, D.C., current home of the FBI headquarters
Warner, a Democrat who serves as chairman of the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence, had voiced disappointment Wednesday night that Greenbelt had been picked over Springfield, but said in a Thursday news conference that he was “shocked” by Wray’s letter.
“Even I was shocked, when this morning, you see the director of the FBI put forward an unprecedented communication to all FBI employees on how corrupt this process was,” Warner said. “The fact that you’ve got three career professionals … choosing Virginia, only to have that overridden by a political appointee, is outrageous. This is the kind of behavior I expected from the Trump administration, but I think we all expect better from the current administration.”
Warner added that he and other officials will call for a general inspector review, an action he said he hopes will be taken by the Biden administration without additional political pressure. “This whole process needs to be thrown out and restarted,” he said.
The location for a new FBI headquarters, replacing the aging facility in Washington, D.C., has long been under discussion in the Washington region, with Virginia and Maryland officials making cases for why their states would be best for the new office, which is expected to bring in thousands of jobs and an economic boost. In Maryland, two properties in Prince George’s County — the former Landover Mall site, and land near the Greenbelt Metro station — were under consideration, and on Wednesday, the Greenbelt land was announced as the GSA’s choice.
The decision to relocate the Washington-based headquarters was delayed during the Trump administration, but a report in October from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General said that the evaluation of sites was not impeded by the Trump White House, despite allegations that the president wanted the headquarters to stay put over concerns that a new hotel competing with the Trump International Hotel could be built on the former FBI headquarters site.
In the past two years, the Springfield site has been promoted by Kaine, Warner and Youngkin as a natural fit for the headquarters, where between 750 and 1,000 people would work, due to its proximity to the FBI’s Quantico training facility and other intelligence sites. Wray’s email says that the three panelists came to a unanimous recommendation for the Springfield property and wrote a “detailed consensus report articulating the basis for its recommendation of Springfield.” Wray added that the rejection of the panel’s unanimous recommendation, “while not inherently inappropriate, is exceedingly rare.”
Nearly two-thirds of surveyed voters think a new FBI headquarters to replace the agency’s crumbling Washington, D.C., home should be built in Virginia.
That’s according to a national survey released in late April by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. More than a decade in the works, the move is being handled by the U.S. General Services Administration, and it has said a decision could come in months. That’s led to volleys between Virginia and Maryland over which state can best meet the needs of the project, which is expected to bring thousands of jobs and a corresponding economic boost.
Maryland leaders contend that the headquarters should move to one of two locations in majority-Black Prince George’s County — the former Landover Mall site, or land near the Greenbelt Metro Station owned by the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority. Along with cost savings, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, has cited the potential to boost an underserved community while offering a chance to reverse “Hoover-era” racism.
Virginia’s leaders, including U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, have rallied around 58 acres in Fairfax County’s Springfield area already owned by the GSA. That location, a quarter mile from the Franconia-Springfield Metro station off Loisdale Road, would save money and is close to national security and intelligence assets such as the FBI Academy at Quantico, they say. They have also cited the region’s diversity and underserved communities.
Criteria set by the GSA for its decision weighs the FBI’s mission at 35%; transportation access at 25%; site development flexibility and advancing equity at 15% each; and cost at 10%.
In a statement to Virginia Business, Warner says the GSA’s criteria makes clear that “Virginia is the ideal location for the new FBI headquarters. With its proximity to FBI Quantico and other key intelligence sites, it’s the optimal location to support the FBI mission.”
The chamber’s survey of 1,000 voters found 65% of respondents favor the commonwealth. Virginia was also the site preferred among Black and Hispanic voters at 58% and 62%, respectively. Meanwhile, 7 out of 10 Black and Hispanic respondents viewed all three sites equally in advancing equity and providing economic opportunity to underserved communities.
Barry DuVal, president and CEO of the Virginia chamber, says the survey demonstrates “public opinion regarding the process is consistent with the priorities that the FBI has set forth.”
The Springfield Corporate Center office building sold for $29.3 million, New York-based real estate company Newmark Group Inc. announced Wednesday.
Located at 6225 Brandon Ave., the five-story building is 138,830 square feet. The building was constructed in 1988 and renovated in 2014 and 2015 in a $2.7 million program. The property is 84% leased, primarily to government contractors like Computer Systems Center Inc., Novetta Solutions LLC, which is part of Accenture Federal Services, and Volkert Inc.
A joint venture between Artemis Real Estate and MRP Realty sold the property to Springfield-based BGP Enterprises. James Cassidy and Jud Ryan with Newmark represented the sellers.
Fifteen Virginia tech companies earned spots on Deloitte’s 26th annual North America Technology Fast 500 Rankings list released Wednesday.
“For more than 25 years, we’ve been honoring companies that define the cutting edge and this year’s Technology Fast 500 list is proof positive that technology — from software and digital media platforms, to biotech — truly does permeate so many facets of our lives,” Paul Silverglate, Deloitte vice chairman and U.S. technology sector leader, said in a statement. “We congratulate this year’s winners, especially during a time when innovation is needed more than ever to address the monumental challenges posed by the pandemic.”
Awardees are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2016 to 2019, which ranged from 175% to 106,508% during the three-year time frame. The median growth rate was 450%.
This year’s winners from Virginia are listed in terms of ranking:
No. 426: Perfecta, software and SaaS, 220% growth, Springfield
No. 427: WillowTree, software and SaaS, 219% growth, Charlottesville
No. 434: DocASAP, software and SaaS, 215% growth, Herndon
No. 446: Research Innovations Inc. (RII), software and SaaS, 209% growth, Alexandria
No. 459: KLDiscovery, software and SaaS, 198% growth, McLean
No. 474 PunchOut2Go, software and SaaS, 190% growth, Charlottesville
“This report is another reminder that the greater Washington area has become a leading center for technology and innovation,” Steve Balistreri, Deloitte’s technology, media and telecommunications industry leader for Greater Washington, said in a statement.
In order to be selected, companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least $50,000 and current-year operating revenues of at least $5 million. Companies must be in business for at least four years and be headquartered in North America.
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