OPINION:
When District Mayor Muriel Bowser made a big show last month in the unveiling of the city’s proposed new stadium for the Washington Commanders on the RFK site, she made sure the city got the most out of their PowerPoint program, showing off charts that proved what a great deal this is for the city and how generous the football team is going to be in its commitment to the project. One chart – “Commanders Stadium Vs. Other NFL Stadiums — showed the “public investment as a percentage of the stadium and parking development costs” in a comparison to other recent or current stadium projects.
The proposal calls for the Commanders to put up $2.7 billion for stadium construction, while the city adds $1.1 billion for parking garages, infrastructure and other costs.
The chart highlighted the stadium being built for the Tennessee Titans in Nashville — a 60% pledge of public funds. Buffalo’s current project for the Bills – 49%. Jacksonville’s new facility for the Jaguars — 50%. New Orleans taxpayers’ bill for stadium improvements for the Saints from last year — 67%. And the public investment as a percentage of the stadium and parking development costs for the Raiders stadium in Las Vegas in 2020 — 37%.
Next to those numbers, the District’s commitment seems like a great deal.
But here’s one footnote District officials failed to include — none of those stadium projects the mayor trotted out in her comparison chart to pitch her plan included handing over prime real estate to the football team to develop and then pocket the profits.
That’s what the District is giving the Commanders, though: an undisclosed number of valuable acres, owned by the federal government but leased by the city in a 99-year agreement approved in the final minutes of last year’s congressional session.
From the mayor’s announcement: “In addition to building the stadium, the Commanders will be responsible for activating and developing multiple parcels of land around the stadium with restaurants, entertainment venues, hotels, housing, green space, and more.”
“Be responsible” — like developing this valuable real estate around the stadium and along the Anacostia River will be some sort of burden.
Those multiple parcels of land have not yet been revealed, and the mayor’s office did not respond to requests to for information on exactly how much land the poor Commanders will be stuck with.
But the available land to develop around the stadium — possibly between 90 and 100 acres — is worth around $400 million now, according to several real estate developers I spoke to, and, if fully developed, could generate as much as $2 billion in revenue.
The Titans, Bills, Jaguars, Saints and Raiders? None of them had to carry the weight of developing prized real estate.
The Commanders may likely partner with developers “activating” the land, but however they deal the cards, it’s a royal flush for the team.
The $3.8 billion stadium project still faces City Council approval — it is expected to come up for a vote in July — and council members may have some questions about this land deal. D.C. political analyst Tom Sherwood recently posted on social media, “DC Council is looking to hire a private firm to provide expert real estate advice on the proposed RFK stadium deal.”
There may be nothing that can derail this stadium deal.
Some neighborhood residents have expressed their opposition and opponents may get the question put on a city ballot for voters to weigh in. But it appears to have public momentum and the strong support of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
For the longest time I believed the Commanders would be forced to build their new stadium in Maryland where the current one, Northwest Stadium, exists in Landover on land the team owns. It was the path of least resistance and remains so. But I underestimated what a financial windfall a stadium at the RFK site would be for the team.
I guess I didn’t expect the city to simply hand over all this valuable land. It is possible this real estate could be used by the city council as a negotiating tool to give the District at least a piece of the pie about to be devoured by the Commanders.
I also failed to consider the money that will wind up in the Commanders pockets by leaving Landover. The Athletic reported in December that the team has an agreement with Maryland officials to begin tearing down Northwest Stadium within 90 days of their first home game at their new stadium.
The “Commanders will collaborate with the State, the County (Prince George’s), and other appropriate State and local agencies to transform the Stadium Site into a vibrant mixed-use development.”
As if the team would have to be talked into quickly developing 200 acres they own of prime real estate along the Beltway in an area where the state has already pledged $400 million in money for redevelopment.
The Commanders may be a football team, but they will be in the real estate business, and it looks like it will be very profitable.
• Catch Thom Loverro on “The Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast.