Residents of Westpark have noticed a lot of construction over the past 2 years between Avalon Park Crest, Ovation Apartment tower, renovation of the PS Business Park building, and demolition for Arbor Row. With all that going on, they might not have noticed the renovations occurring behind the Freddie Mac offices for the new Kaiser Permanente medical office building. The new location will include everything from primary care to laboratory space filling out 236,000 square feet of the existing 6-story Russell Building.
The addition of Kaiser Permanente to Tysons Corner underlines the growing healthcare field within the city. Independent practices and specialists have long resided in many of the smaller lease spaces around town but the new health center will provide research, medical, and corporate roles beyond those of a private practice on a scale larger than any other provider to date.
Architecturally, the Russell building is looking nothing like its former shell. The renovations have included site work for the center entrance, rehabilitation of pavement, utility upgrades specific to medical centers, and interior remodeling. We hope those improvements will continue to come when new projects begin construction across the street associated with Arbor Row as the sidewalk system for the Kaiser property needs serious adjustments along Westpark Drive. In all we think the development of the Russell building and site was a good use of what was already in place and reuses a perfectly suitable building instead of wastefully constructing a new one.
Tysons has been a popular location for medical specialists including TLC Laser Eye, Kids First Pyschology, NOVA Pyschotherapy, and Neurology Treatment Center. The presence of Kaiser Permanente could catalyze the growth of the field within Tysons Corner, which has been absent of the very successful INova Medical Centers located in other portions of Fairfax County.
Kaiser has already begun the search for the growing staff needs with several hundred open positions being advertised online. So even if you aren’t a patient you’ll be happy to know that the new facility will provide a significant economic presence for the ever diversifying Northern Virginia business landscape.