On Tuesday, May 2, Inova Health System announced plans to create a center that would focuses on the medical sciences, education and technology. The center, which would be created in partnership with the Lansdowne Development Group, would be located near the crossover of Sycolin Road and the Dulles Greenway, just south of Leesburg.
The facility will be called the L.I.F.E. center, which is meant to express Inova's commitment to "Leadership and Innovation in the Future of Excellence in health care," according to Inova's press release.
In addition to the approximately 500,000 square feet allotted for Inova, the Lansdowne development plans include 1,985 residential units, up to 100,000 square feet in retail, 250,000 square feet and the completion of Bolen Park, for a total of 650 acres.
Lansdowne Development Group president Hobie Mitchel said the zoning on the 650 acres has already been filed with the county and he hopes to bring the application before the Loudoun County Planning Commission by the summer.
Lansdowne has also purchased an additional 122 acres for future middle and high schools and an additional phase of the L.I.F.E. center.
Lansdowne submitted a rezoning application for the area in April 2005 that focused on road improvement projects and moving the proposed location of Bolen Park so that Lansdowne could create a town center on the county land in the flight path of the Leesburg Executive Airport. Supervisors turned down the application last year.
"When Creekside was focused on transportation and the park, I think it was too much for some people," Mitchel said. "Now we have a user for the site in Inova."
For Inova, the purpose of the L.I.F.E. center is to establish a setting for scientists and doctors to work together on developing new practices in the health-care sciences, medical education and patient-care technology.
"The whole idea was to create a biomedical corridor," Mitchel said. "This is the next level of Loudoun Inova."