Developers will soon be asked to bid on a project to convert a former D.C. prison in Fairfax County to a village of homes and shops.

About 80 acres in the heart of the shuttered Lorton Correctional Facilities Complex, which sits near Interstate 95 in the Mount Vernon District, could become a mix of commercial space and “magnet” houses for teachers and public safety officers, said Chris Caperton, the coordinator for the project with the county’s Planning and Zoning department.