City Of Alexandria Plans Future Move Into Mark Center Building

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The City of Alexandria signed a lease with Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) in late May to move into IDA's Mark Center headquarters. The move will happen following IDA's relocation to a new Potomac Yard headquarters.

IDA will vacate the building at 4850 Mark Center Drive in early 2022 and move to Potomac Yard. The City of Alexandria plans to occupy the building in February 2023 after a one-year renovation, according to an IDA news release. The building will allow the city's Department of Community and Human Services and the Alexandria Health Department to be at the same location.

"This is a key milestone in our progress toward Potomac Yard occupancy and continued
advancement of our work for our sponsors," said IDA President and CEO Norton A. Schwartz in a statement. "Eight years ago, we committed to move into a new building in Potomac Yard equipped with the latest technology and security requirements to better support our growing organization."

The city's Department of Community and Human Services' current location is on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray, while the health department is located on western King Street near the border with Arlington and Fairfax counties. The 15-year-lease for the Mark Center building gives city government the option to purchase it.

As a nonprofit corporation, IDA runs three federally-funded research and development centers, providing analysis on U.S. security and science policy. IDA first partnered with the city when it moved headquarters to Mark Center nearly 40 years ago.

IDA's future location at 730 East Glebe Road is near the future Metro station and Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. The opening timeline aligns with the planned 2022 opening of the Blue and Yellow Line Metro station. The first academic building of the Innovation campus is expected to open in 2024. Construction of the 370,000-square-foot Potomac Yard IDA headquarters will likely be completed by the end of 2021.