ALEXANDRIA, Va. — It is the end of an area for the Landmark Mall in Alexandria, Virginia. The demolition process began Thursday morning on the vacant commercial space that opened in 1965 but has been closed since 2017.
The $2 billion development project will house an expansion of the Inova Alexandria Hospital with a 10-acre site with services catered to the West End community, according to Dr. Stephen Jones, president and CEO of the medical network.
“We will have woman and children services, especially birthing services here. We will have a heart program, a cancer program, we will have a substantial expansion here" Jones said.
The lot will also house retail shops, 2,500 affordable housing units, a new fire station and a transit hub. The new construction will fill a void according to Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson, who says that West End is a place for people to work and live, but needs a place for health and play.
“We used to come out here and get our tennis shoes and sports gear, and things of that nature; and it was such a good place to come out to as a youth” Alexandria resident Steven Nelson said.
The space that once housed big retail names like Sears and
Woodward & Lothrop is now an eyesore for some residents like Darnella Nelson who said she remembers last-minute Christmas shopping at the mall when she was young.
“We need the small businesses," Nelson said. "We want the residents to thrive. We want affordable housing."
Construction is set to begin in 2023 and developers say the project will be completed in phases with the first buildings being delivered by 2025.
The mall, though closed since 2017, made headlines in 2018 when the Wonder Woman sequel filmed some scenes in the closed space.
