The White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan seeks to leverage the many assets located in the White Oak area and establish the foundation upon which the area may evolve into a community that offers more opportunities to learn, live, work and play. The Plan also envisions that the commercial centers will evolve from conventional, auto-dependent suburban shopping retail centers, business parks and light industrial areas into vibrant, mixed-use, transit-served nodes. The White Oak area has been identified for major development initiatives after nearly 20 years of development moratorium.

In 2009, the County purchased a 115-acre former compositing facility known as Site 2 from WSSC for the express purpose of creating a “World Class Bio/Life Sciences, Education and Research Community,” and in 2011 the County chose Percontee, Inc., as its development partner in a public-private partnership. This partnership, to redevelop nearly 300 acres of industrial uses into a mixed-use center with a focus on bio/life sciences, will take place over the next 20-30 years. While the 300-acre project known as Viva White Oak is poised to transform the WOSG, new development and redevelopment in the area is not limited only to this project. A new master plan was approved in 2014 covering nearly 3,000 acres, allowing mixed uses on other properties historically dominated by a single use. Major infrastructure investments will also accompany redevelopment including new roads,