Inova drops redevelopment plans

Inova Health System is not planning to proceed with a massive mixed-use development on its Merrifield campus, the Washington Business Journal reported on April 30.

In 2018, Inova proposed redeveloping the 117-acre property that Inova acquired from Exxon Mobil with multifamily housing, retail, restaurants, a hotel, and additional medical facilities. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a Comprehensive Plan amendment in 2019 to facilitate that project.

Meanwhile, Inova transformed the former Exxon Mobil headquarters into the Inova Center for Personalized Health, which includes the Schar Cancer Institute. Inova started leasing the former Exxon Mobil headquarters in 2015 and acquired the site in 2020.

Related story: Supervisors approve Inova expansion on Gallows Road

Now, there are no plans to implement a mixed-use development on that site. “There’s really no burning platform to do that right now,” Dr. Stephen Jones, president and CEO of Inova, said in an interview with the Washington Business Journal (WBJ). “It’s not a priority, for sure – and never was a priority for me. I came here to deliver clinical care.”

When Jones took over from former CEO Knox Singleton six years ago, he restructured Inova to focus on patient care, dropping previous plans for a venture arm, accelerator, and genomics research at the Merrifield campus, WBJ reports.

Inova is leasing space on the Merrifield campus to the University of Virginia for multiple degree programs and other educational uses, the WBJ article states. That facility is expected to open in January.