It seemed a Dickensian moment in DC — not the famous Tale of Two Cities, but rather a variation with one city simultaneously experiencing two seemingly opposing financial challenges. Or maybe it’s more aptly described as “déjà vu all over again.”
After all, talk this week about whether DC should or shouldn’t use public funds to help build a new sports stadium at the Robert F. Kennedy site in Northeast seemed reminiscent of the fight in 2004 when then-Mayor Anthony A. Williams announced an agreement to return Major League Baseball to the nation’s capital. That deal, eventually approved by the DC Council after much back-and-forth, triggered significant economic development on the surrounding blocks that, combined with massive projects at the Navy Yard and The Wharf, dramatically transformed large sections of Ward 6.
This time around, Mayor Muriel Bowser has forged a tentative agreement with Josh Harris and his Washington Commanders ownership group to bring back the football team. It has played its home games in Maryland for decades, after then-Mayor Sharon Pratt fumbled negotiations with Jack Kent Cooke for a new stadium at RFK, prompting his frustrated and angry departure.
She committed many political sins but, for some folks, that may have been the most unforgivable. Pratt lost her reelection bid.
Displaying perseverance and greater skillsmanship, Bowser and her administration have produced a $3.7 billion preliminary deal, $2.7 billion of which would come out of the Washington Commanders’ and NFL’s wallets. The agreement goes well beyond the mere construction of a football stadium to include recreation, entertainment, retail and housing on the nearly 180-acre site.
“As we focus on the growth of our economy, we’re not only bringing our team home, but we’re also bringing new jobs and new revenue to our city and to Ward 7,” Bowser said during her announcement earlier this week.
Ward 7 Councilmember Wendell Felder, who joined the legislature only this past January, said the stadium deal “signals it’s a new day in Ward 7!”
Actually, with the stadium project and the eventual completion of the adjacent Reservation 13, residents of that section of the city could see a vibrant counterpoint to development in other parts of the city.
“It’s a phenomenal proposal,” said one longtime business executive who was in the city for the fight over Nationals Park. “The city will benefit significantly over a period of years.”
