A nearly $1 billion effort to redevelop the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center moved forward Tuesday, advancing GW’s plans to open lab space there.

Mayor Vincent Gray selected the Houston-based developer Hines Interests to revamp the former hospital campus into a 3 million-square-foot complex known as “The Parks at Walter Reed,” according to a Washington Post report.

The proposed new center, located along Georgia Avenue NW, would include “life science and health” labs for both GW and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as 318 units of affordable housing, according to the developer’s site.

The plan, which will include a conference center and a hotel, was endorsed by community groups and Victor Hoskins, the deputy mayor for planning and economic development.

The medical center has been closed since 2011. The Post had reported in 2007 that patients suffered substandard conditions and bureaucracy often stood in the way of timely treatment.