It is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), serving both the Blue and Yellow Lines, and opened on May 19, 2023.

[2] It is located at Alexandria's 7.5-million-square-foot (700,000 m2) Potomac Yard mixed-use development bounded by Richmond Highway (U.S. Route 1) and the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

[8][9] In June 2008, Alexandria's Planning Commission approved higher-density projects at a town center near the proposed Potomac Yard station site.

[5][6] On June 12, 2010, the Alexandria City Council voted to rezone the 69 acres (28 ha) North Potomac Yard area to convert the 600,000-square-foot (56,000 m2) big-box Potomac Yard Shopping Center into a 7.5 million square feet (700,000 m2) mixed-use development centered around the proposed station.

[10] The addition of the station to the Blue and Yellow Lines will cost roughly $500,000 in fiscal 2010 dollars to operate annually.

[3][12] The projected cost to build the Potomac Yard station and the debt servicing paid over 30 years will be approximately $500 million.

As part of building the station, the city will receive 0.16 acres (650 m2) of land along the George Washington Memorial Parkway from the National Park Service and, in exchange, transfer 13.56 acres (5.49 ha) of city parkland to the federal government and spend $12 million to improve the Mount Vernon Trail and Daingerfield Island.

[14] In November 2016 the National Park Service and Federal Highway Administration issued a Record of Decision in favor of the station's construction.

[21] The WMATA board accepted the station into the system and endorsed the site choice in December 2015, with a planned opening in 2020.

[24] Because of this cost increase, the Potomac Yard station's proposed southern entrance at Glebe Road was canceled.

[29] Originally planned to end on October 22, it was extended to November 5 due to the discovery of soil conditions needing additional work.

The south pavilion is located on the eastern side of the intersection between Potomac Avenue and East Glebe Road.

Potomac is considered to come from an Algonquian term meaning "where things are brought in" or a trading place.

Virginia Tech has pushed to include its initials in the station's primary name since at least 2020 to bring attention to its currently under-construction Innovation Campus located nearby, which is planned to open in 2024.

This includes its interior architecture being partially inspired by Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and its exterior featuring natural stone and brown steel blending into the surrounding area.

The station is also one of the first rail stations in the United States, and by extension, North America, to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council since it includes many sustainable design elements; being awarded LEED Gold status.

A Subtle Trip, 2023 wraps around the outside of the mezzanine of the south pavilion and consists of painted aluminum shapes in a pattern of Virginia bluebells.