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Carol Kissal, Mason's senior vice president for administration and finance, praised the "quality and innovation" of the proposals.
George Mason University, Virginia’s largest and most diverse public research institution, received proposals from nine highly prominent national firms interested in constructing and operating Mason’s Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA) on the Arlington Campus.
A short list of development teams is expected to be known by mid June.
“I am pleased about the continued progress of the Arlington project, particularly given the challenges we face right now, not only at the university but as a region and country,” said Carol Kissal, Mason’s senior vice president for administration and finance. “Based on the quality and innovation represented in the proposals we received, it is clear these firms are looking beyond this difficult moment toward a partnership that will drive the region’s innovation economy. We look forward to the next phase in June.”
In the next five years, Mason’s Arlington Campus will undergo a $250 million transformation that will serve as a critical catalyst for the further activation of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, a dynamic and growing innovation district with a thriving high-tech ecosystem.
The anchor of that plan is the Institute for Digital InnovAtion, which will include approximately 360,000 square feet of new space adjacent to the university’s existing presence in Virginia Square.
It will incorporate advanced cyber infrastructure and green technologies to support a mix of state-of-the-art tech-based research and related education programs, corporate innovation labs, co-working and innovation programs for high-growth ventures. It also will include collaboration and convening spaces to support public programming for the Arlington community, ground-floor retail, a below-grade parking garage and a public plaza.
The Mason IDIA will not only support the university’s tech-based research and related educational programs, but will provide collaboration and convening spaces to support public programming for the Arlington community.
Mason made its original request for proposals in February, and later that month 105 developers, architects and engineers converged on Mason’s Van Metre Auditorium to hear about the expansion of the Arlington Campus.
“The Institute for Digital Innovation will anchor the Rosslyn-Ballston innovation corridor and serve as an engine of research, economic growth, job creation and new tax revenue,” Mason Interim President Anne Holton said at the time.
Added Liza Wilson Durant, associate dean for strategic initiative and community engagement: "We are incredibly impressed with the expertise and vision of the developer teams, and their leading-edge ideas reinforce the value proposition for the IDIA and the power of a physical structure to facilitate collaboration and innovation.”