6,000-acre innovation district launches in Manassas

Officials with George Mason University, Prince William County and the City of Manassas on Friday announced the name selected for an innovation district encompassing 6,000 acres in Northern Virginia: Nexus234 Innovation District.

The innovation district will be a place where researchers, entrepreneurs and scholars, as well as a growing cluster of technology companies, can share ideas and talent. It will support life sciences, aerospace, defense, data centers and AI infrastructure, along with other industries.

The moniker is a nod to how the district centers around Innovation Park, a 1,500-acre corporate research park in Manassas that’s anchored by George Mason’s Science and Technology Campus. The central corridor of the district is Route 234.

“Since 1997, George Mason has been at the heart of Nexus234,” George Mason President Gregory Washington said in a statement. “Collaborating with local businesses and government, channeling bold ideas into research, discovery and invention, and working in partnership with Northern Virginia Community College to train a pipeline of workers to successfully enter high-demand fields. We stand behind the leaders that came before us who set this district in motion.”

Nexus234 includes about 330 acres available for laboratory, research and development, manufacturing and office development, with a portion of land publicly controlled to support coordinated public-private growth, according to a news release.

In 2025, regional leaders received a $2.6 million grant to launch an innovation district from GO Virginia. The grant was matched by $1.3 million in local investments.

Founding partners of the innovation district include ATCC, the Manassas-based global biological materials and information resource and standards organization, Idaho-based Micron Technology, a semiconductor company that manufactures computer memory and storage products and has a major facility in Manassas, and Richmond-based Fortune 500 utility Dominion Energy.

“Prince William County is building a destination for discovery,” Deshundra Jefferson, chair-at-large of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, said in a statement. “Nexus234 reflects our long-term strategy to attract high-value industries, support groundbreaking research and ensure companies have the space, talent and infrastructure they need to grow.”

The innovation district’s executive director, Amy Adams, has served in the role since July 2025. With 24 years of experience in higher education, Adams also serves as executive director of George Mason’s Institute for Biohealth Innovation. She earned a master’s degree in chemistry from George Mason and sits on the boards of Maryland-based nonprofit BioHealth Innovation and the Association of University Research Parks.

Attendees at the event held in Brentsville Hall in Manassas on Friday also got a look at the district’s logo, which includes pops of cyan, mustard and raspberry.

Friday’s event coincided with the Insights Into Research Parks gathering organized by the Association of University Research Parks, the world’s largest association of research and science parks. The site visit brings together economic developers, university and industry partners and others.