Virginia Tech Innovation Campus Academic Building Milestone Reached

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Hundreds of people joined Virginia Tech Tuesday to mark the topping out of its first academic building at the Innovation Campus in Alexandria's Potomac Yard neighborhood.

The topping out was a ceremonial lifting of a steel beam to mark the highest point of the first academic building at 11 stories. The topping out ceremony was held inside the first floor of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus construction site.

The building, which will provide space for instruction, research, office, and support spaces for computer science and computer engineering graduate programs and select other programs, is expected to open in fall 2024.

"This is a significant moment for Virginia Tech, symbolizing the tremendous progress we have made on both construction and academic planning for the Innovation Campus," said Virginia Tech President Tim Sands at the event. "The Innovation Campus will be an important source of tech talent for the greater Washington, D.C., region — and is vital to Virginia Tech’s growing presence in the area. I look forward to 2024, when we welcome students, faculty, and the community into this remarkable building."

The first academic building will include a 3,000-square-foot 200-person classroom or 355-person auditorium, 14 classrooms, a cyber physical lab and two-story drone testing cage, three instructional studios for online learning and teaching, a roof deck on the eighth floor for up to 300 people, 32 huddle rooms, a 169-space underground parking garage and eight eletric vehicle charging stations. The building will also be home to the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics on the fifth floor, a dedicated K-12 Programs Center on the second floor, and the Boeing Center for Veterans and Families co-located with the Hokie One Stop on the second floor.

"We are building a tech community perfectly positioned to connect talented students with Northern Virginia’s growing tech ecosystem," said Lance Collins, vice president and executive director of the Innovation Campus. "In this process, details matter, and I am thankful for the contributions of everyone involved in the planning, design, and construction of our campus to date."

The plan for an Innovation Campus in Alexandria was a key factor in Amazon deciding to build its second headquarters in neighboring Arlington. The campus will educate graduate tech students, seeking to meet needs for the tech workforce in the region.

The 3.5-acre campus will be part of the first phase of JBG Smith's mixed-use development in North Potomac Yard. The first phase includes the first academic building and six commercial buildings from JBG Smith with office, retail, and residential uses. Washington Business Journal reported in November that work on two residential buildings is delayed.

Development in Potomac Yard has been bolstered by the future opening of the Potomac Yard Metro station, which is expected to open in May.

Two other academic buildings could be considered under future requests for city approval. Once the campus fully opens, it is expected to draw 750 master’s degree students and 200 doctoral students.

The Innovation Campus has enrolled students since 2020, temporarily offering instruction at its Falls Church campus while Innovation Campus construction continues. The campus headquarters opened in 2021 at 3000 Potomac Avenue in Alexandria.