George Mason To Break Ground On Arlington Campus Expansion Project In April

ARLINGTON, VA — George Mason University made two major announcements about its Arlington campus on Thursday, both inspired in part by Amazon's decision to move its second headquarters to the county.

First, the university is renaming its Arlington campus in the Virginia Square neighborhood as Mason Square. Second, construction is scheduled to begin next month on a new building at George Mason's Arlington campus that will house faculty and students working with the Institute for Digital Innovation.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the $242.8 million expansion project, Fuse at Mason Square, will take place on Wednesday, April 6.

Along with housing the Institute for Digital Innovation and its partners, the new 365,000-square-foot building, located at 3401 Fairfax Drive, will be used by graduate programs from George Mason’s new School of Computing.

“We look forward to this new building and program, Fuse at Mason Square, attracting start-ups, investors and community organizations to Arlington in order to work alongside Mason innovators,” Katie Cristol, Arlington County Board Chair, said in a statement Thursday.

Fuse at Mason Square will be a LEED Platinum and net-zero-ready building. The site will also feature retail amenities and a public plaza for programming, as well as a below-grade parking garage. The estimated completion for the building is summer 2024.

In partnership with Mason Innovation Partners, Bethesda, Maryland-based Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate will be the lead developer of the expansion project.

George Mason said the expansion at its Arlington campus supports Virginia’s Tech Talent Investment Program, a 20-year program designed to produce 25,000 additional graduates in computer science, computer engineering and software engineering. George Mason is one of 11 universities taking part in the program, committing to graduate 2,277 bachelor’s and 5,328 master’s degree holders over the next two decades.

“As the largest producer of computing graduates in Virginia, George Mason University is building a new model for education’s role in economic development,” said Dr. Gregory Washington, president of George Mason University. “Mason Square brings scholars, students, industry and the region together at a destination — unlike any other — that takes ideas and research to market faster, and drives policy and technology solutions forward for decades to come.”

In addition to the new building, Mason Square in Arlington is the site of many other George Mason schools and programs, including the Antonin Scalia Law School, the Schar School of Policy and Government, the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, and the university's School of Business.