The big news around the Commanders outside of Ashburn is, of course, the legislation being prepared in Congress to extend and amend D.C.’s lease for the RFK site, which could open up the possibility of a new Commanders stadium returning to its old home.
And among those who think it’s the best site? None other than DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, who joined the Junkies Friday morning to advocate for a return to the Redskins’ old home in Ward 6.
“This is how we start – we want our team, but we also know we have a great site, and believe we have the best site, best served by transportation and public transportation,” Mayor Bowser told the guys. “And, the allure of history is something that counts. I don’t know what dollar amount I’d put on it, but in my experience, with people who built great businesses – especially a team that needed to be rescued – they care about that, and about the legacy they leave on sports and on an area.”
Perhaps the most positive thing in all that: not even hours into his ownership tenure, Josh Harris reached out to Mayor Bowser, and then he and minority investor Mark Ein visited City Hall on Thursday – something Dan Snyder and company likely never would have done, but something both sides now wanted to do as the new era begins.
“I don’t know Josh Harris, but as soon as the sale was approved, he gave me a call, and then he and Mark, who I do know well, came to City Hall yesterday,” she said. “I approached that visit much like I do with a lot of employers or businesses I want to get to the District – we just let them know who we are and what we’re about, and what we have to offer. And, we got to hear a little bit about how they’re approaching the team and helping the team get a fresh start, so it was a nice visit.”
One of the allures of the RFK site is the size of the area, which will allow other mixed-use development – think retail, restaurants, and perhaps affordable housing – to be plentiful if and when the lease modification is made to allow more than just sports, recreation, and entertainment.
“It’s 190 acres, and anybody who has been on the site, they’re not going to double the size of the current stadium,” Mayor Bowser said. “And, you won’t need to build all that parking, like a lot of the suburban sites that aren’t served by highway exchanges or public transportation. That’s how you get a real urban stadium, which is what people want – they don’t want to go out to a campus with miles of parking after they sat on the highway for hours to get there. They want to get to a game, enjoy the game, and have the feel of being in a great urban stadium where they can see the Capitol and the Anacostia River.”
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The District has already begun developing some of that recreation around the RFK site, and to Mayor Bowser, adding a new stadium would bring in more opportunity for the folks enjoying those facilities, more than just the dozen or so days a year the Commanders are home.
“That’s going to be true for the $60 million local sportsplex we built for DC that’s already funded, and true for people who come down to the campus for better access to the Anacostia River,” the Mayor said. “We can have restaurants and dining and entertainment – we think the site has it all.”
All of that is something that can’t be done, necessarily, at the smaller Poplar Point site further downriver, where the amenities of the Navy Yard area around Nationals Park and Audi Field would be available, but separated from it all by the River itself – and as the Mayor noted, the “Philadelphia model” of one big campus for everything may not be the best idea anyway.
“I don’t know that the Philadelphia model is what we want,” the Mayor said. “I know Josh is involved there and trying to move their facility downtown. I don’t know if that’s the movement for a lot of places; we don’t want a lot of asphalt parking and one use, we want a lot of vibrancy, and we think that comes when you have a campus brought to life on days there isn’t a game. Having a multiple use is a high priority for us; Poplar Point is just across the river and we continue to work with our partners at the Park Service to get that free and clear, but I don’t know if that’s the best place for a football stadium – but we do think that can accommodate more sport and recreational use.”
Mayor Bowser spent about 15 minutes with the guys discussing the Commanders/RFK/DC situation – take a listen to everything she had to say above!
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