Food Business Accelerator Sought As Anchor Tenant For Original Mount Vernon High School

MOUNT VERNON, VA — Fairfax County is planning to lease space at the Original Mount Vernon High School for food business accelerator and entrepreneurship center. Fairfax County put out a request for expressions of interest for an operator who can run the food business accelerator.

A food business accelerator is a shared-use commercial kitchen for emerging businesses to use for food production. The food business accelerator would provide guidance and coaching to participating businesses. Fairfax County's request for interest "seeks a food business accelerator operator that will provide a programming component focused on helping participating entrepreneurs and small businesses to scale or expand," according to a county news release.

The business accelerator and entrepreneurship center would be the anchoring tenant for the former school. The county started planning for reuse of the building when the last school tenant vacated in 2016. Since then, the county has introduced interim uses like reopening the gym after renovations, a satellite Fire Marshal’s Office for South County area and a Fairfax County Public Schools registration site. A teen and senior center is now open after relocating from the South County Center.

Potential future development could include a theater, a workforce development and education space, child care, and technology-based business center. The Original Mount Vernon High School will be near a stop on the proposed Bus Rapid Transit on the Route 1 corridor.

The county will accept submissions for the request for interest on a rolling basis through March 31. Submissions will be reviewed and potentially recommended for the site.

The Original Mount Vernon High School is a 22-acre county-owned property that was once part of George Washington's Mount Vernon estate. Built in 1939, it was a high school until 1973 and middle school until 1985. The building was leased to Islamic Saudi Academy in 1989 until the school relocated in 2016. The site includes the main high school building, several smaller buildings to the west and south, and two athletic fields planned for community use.

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