It’s officially, officially official: control of the RFK Stadium land is back under DC control.
President Joe Biden officially signed H.R. 4984, the “D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act," on Monday, which transfers ‘administrative jurisdiction over the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus to the District of Columbia to allow the District to use the Campus for stadium development, residential and commercial development, and other specified purposes.’
That bill that passed in the Senate by unanimous consent just before Christmas, and now, officially signed, gives the District of Columbia a 99-year lease and full development rights of the area surrounding RFK Stadium.
Mayor Muriel Bowser was there, as was Commanders owner Josh Harris and minority owners Mitch Rales and Mark Ein, and the Mayor told FOX 5 DC about the moment.
"I just left the White House where the President put his signature on our bill," Bowser told FOX 5. "So now, it’s officially law and the District controls 177 acres on the Anacostia River. So, we’re really excited to take possession of the RFK property. The next step is to keep working to make sure everything with the agency at the Department of Interior is what we need, and we’re going to keep planning, talking, talking to the team, talking to stakeholders to get this done for D.C. residents.”
Bowser had already begun preliminary talks with Harris and the Commanders organization about possibly building the team’s next stadium on the RFK site, ideally with retail, restaurants, and potential housing surrounding it in a mixed-use development.
“It’s huge, and I want to congratulate my teams that have worked tirelessly for many years to get this done,” Bowser later told WUSA 9. “The District will continue to work to control that property and bring it back to life, and what I think this says about the city is our momentum is big and moving in the right direction in so many ways. We are achieving transformational things.”
The Commanders also put out the following after the bill was signed:
“President Biden’s signature of the ‘D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act’ is a big win for Washington, D.C.
and its residents. Washington can finally move forward on a new vision for the RFK site. We look forward to being a part of that conversation as we evaluate a future home for the Washington Commanders.”