As part of efforts to keep the Washington Wizards and Capitals in the District, Mayor Muriel Bowser has proposed to purchase Capital One Arean from Ted Leonsis, as part of the half-billion dollar renovations the D.C. Council approved for the arena after the owner of the Capitals and Wizards threatened to move the teams to Alexandria.
The plan would be to purchase the area for $87.5 million and lease the property back to Leonsis and extend the lease through 2050.
"It's just another step in the long road to transforming this building," Leonsis told Craig Hoffman about the reports, adding that Monumental Sports & Entertainment is putting up $300 million as part of "the largest investment in an inner-city existing building since Madison Square Garden."
The owner called it a major commitment to not only their fans but also to downtown D.C. The improvements will begin next summer and will begin with improvements to the first floor to improve the facilities for the players before going up all four floors of the arena and the outside.
The summer renovations could impact the WNBA scheudle, something Leonsis said is unavoidable and that the renovations "is gonna be messy over the next couple of years, no doubt about it. Noone has tried to do what we're doing."
He added: "We can make it new. That's my intention, is to build a new building and make it look new for the players, for the fans, for the city, for the neighbors. And to get there, it's gonna be a lot of work. There will be a lot of 'pardon our dust' t-shirts."
From that jumping-off point – asking for patience from the fans – there will be a lot of 'dust' with the Wizards' rebuild that is now entering a second season under Will Dawkins and Michael Winger.
Leonsis said he "did it once with the Capitals, and it was worth the wait," and that appears to be the mantra with the basketball team as well.
"We did get stuck in mediocrity," Leonsis said of the rebuilding that took place and led to the John Wall and Bradley Beal era. "We had a lot of good players, just couldn't get through. And so if you end up making the playoffs, missing the playoffs by a few games, it's the worst place to be. And so strategically we just said, 'It's time.' And if you're gonna make a big pivot like that, you have to make the investment in facilities, in patience, bring in new people who have experience in those kinds of environments.
"And Michael and Will have been very, very impressive in what they're doing. We're still in this deconstruction stage, which is what we're gonna be in with Capital One Arena: We have to knock a lot of stuff down before we can start to rebuild."
Leonsis added that his "vibe" after taking three picks in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft was "exactly the kinds of moves that we should be doing" and "this is going to be a long process, but there's no shortcut."
Aside from the on-court focused changes, Leonsis said that Winger and Dawkins have told him that there are more than 50 new faces as they are "turning around the whole organization because the previous organization just didn't get us to be playoff-caliber."
"And then once you make the playoffs," Leonsis told Hoffman. "You get those lessons in the playoffs and, can you improve from time to time and series to series? It's gonna be a long, hard road, but I think the fans are up for it, we're certainly up for it. And we had no other choice. So, I'm very committed to it."
Hoffman and Leonsis spoke at the new exhibit showcasing 175 photographs from photojournalist Harry Benson's work from Washington D.C.
The exhibit – next to the Arena at 707-709 7th Street NW – is free to the public and features photographs of every president and first lady since Dwight D. Eisenhower and iconic photographs of athletes, like Muhammad Ali and musicians, such as The Beatles' arrival in America, and the American civil rights movement.
"Let people understand the history of Washington D.C., all the presidents, all the sports figures," Leonsis said, calling the now 94-year-old Benson "the world's most important living photojournalist."