Caps and Wiz moving to Potomac Yards?

[RobDibblesGhost]

According to the Post, Leonais and DC don’t have a great relationship and now apparently Ted is hinting at moving to a new arena in Crystal City National Landing as he’s trying to get assistance with major necessary upgrades/renovations including chillers and HVAC systems. I have no idea where a new venue would actually be feasible in Arlington. I could possibly see that happening though - it’s obvious Leonsis isn’t happy at all. That would be a huge loss for DC.

The Nats may find themselves in a similar predicament soon, particularly if Leonsis buys the team. Stay tuned…

https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/washington-capitals/.amp/news/washington-capitals-report-move-capital-one-arena-relocate-crystal-city

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I don't know where they'd put it.  Maybe where Amazon's Poop Emoji building is supposed to go?  Maybe there's land opening up when they lower Rte 1?

I don't think the footprint is big enough to squeeze in a stadium on Crystal Drive where the 2100/2200 buildings are unless Smith tears down Crystal Plaza.  The only other thought would be the parking lot behind 23rd street. That's supposed to be housing, but nothing is sunk into that yet. 

Boeing Fields would mean taking out rec space. 

[HalfSmokes]

I don't know where they'd put it.  Maybe where Amazon's Poop Emoji building is supposed to go?  Maybe there's land opening up when they lower Rte 1?

I don't think the footprint is big enough to squeeze in a stadium on Crystal Drive where the 2100/2200 buildings are unless Smith tears down Crystal Plaza.  The only other thought would be the parking lot behind 23rd street. That's supposed to be housing, but nothing is sunk into that yet. 

Boeing Fields would mean taking out rec space. 

The bus lot by the McDonalds?

[imref]

I really hope this doesn’t happen.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

The bus lot by the McDonalds?

I guess that's National Landing if not Crystal City. Not close at all to Metro.

More I think about it, tearing down the 2100/2200 stretch makes sense if the footprint is big enough. That's where the walkway to the Airport is going. There's brand new building at Route 1 and 20th and 23rd and Crystal, so I would be shocked if they come down. But Crystal Plaza is pretty old, so maybe that's coming down?  I'm just surprised if they pull housing out of the area.

thinking a bit outside the box, with Route 1 being lowered, maybe there's space reconfiguring 15th Street.

[Natsinpwc]

I guess that's National Landing if not Crystal City. Not close at all to Metro.

More I think about it, tearing down the 2100/2200 stretch makes sense if the footprint is big enough. That's where the walkway to the Airport is going. There's brand new building at Route 1 and 20th and 23rd and Crystal, so I would be shocked if they come down. But Crystal Plaza is pretty old, so maybe that's coming down?  I'm just surprised if they pull housing out of the area.

thinking a bit outside the box, with Route 1 being lowered, maybe there's space reconfiguring 15th Street.

As long as they don’t tear down CCR.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Post article on the same subject:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/06/23/monumental-nationals-dc-bowser/

Mentions that Monumental has $35 million left on its ground lease, which it can pay off before 2027. Talks about the crime rate being an issue. However, Monumental also talks up the $80 million in plans for new media studios at Cap One. Mendelson seems to be the person in government trying to make things work with Monumental. Leonsis and Bowser are frosty to each other.

With respect to the Nats and NAts Park finances:

In 2005, D.C. created a special pot of money, the Ballpark Revenue Fund, to pay certain costs of the development, construction and renovation of a stadium. Now the city uses the BRF to pay down the municipal bonds that funded the construction of Nationals Park.

The money in the BRF comes from four main sources, according to a spokesperson for the city’s chief financial officer. The largest by far is the ballpark tax ($41.9 million in the 2022 fiscal year, according to a February 2023 report). The other three are taxes on sales at Nationals Park ($12.4 million in 2022), public utilities ($7.1 million) and telecommunication companies ($2.3 million).
...
But as the city nears full repayment of its baseball bonds — which could happen as early as 2028, according to the CFO’s spokesperson — the Nationals may have to fight others interested in BRF funds. Once the bonds are fully paid off, the ballpark tax will “sunset and no longer be in effect,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to The Post. But the other taxes will remain in effect, and the city could decide to “to repurpose these funds for other initiatives, including funding other sports arenas.”

[JCA-CrystalCity]

As long as they don’t tear down CCR.

well, Young Chow is out, so there's some space. Maybe they could use the air rights above CCR.

[imref]

Losing the caps and wizards would be devastating for that part of dc, not to mention losing other events to the new arena. Dc needs to do everything they can to keep the teams in dc.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

The current city council is unlikely to do anything.  Brianne Nadeau will probably welcome having a large empty facility that can be converted to affordable housing in 250 years.   

Losing the caps and wizards would be devastating for that part of dc, not to mention losing other events to the new arena. Dc needs to do everything they can to keep the teams in dc.

[imref]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/12/11/monumental-sports-capitals-wizards-alexandria-virginia-capital-one-arena/

A group of Virginia state lawmakers plans to meet behind closed doors Monday afternoon to consider a potential deal to bring the Washington Capitals and Wizards to a new arena in Northern Virginia, according to four people with knowledge of the situation.

Both teams would move to a new facility anchoring a massive mixed-use development in Alexandria’s Potomac Yard neighborhood, according to three of the four, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the plan. A Virginia stadium authority would own the larger complex and lease it to Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Capitals and the Wizards.
Monumental has not definitively said whether it would move the pro teams into Virginia. If the deal goes forward, the company would put hundreds of millions of its own dollars into the project, according to two people briefed on the matter.

For DC's sake, I hope the teams stay where they are.

[Five Banners]

Opening salvo in regional revenue hammock sweepstakes, perchance

[Natsinpwc]

Would they get flooded out of games there? I thought that area flooded frequently? I know they could probably shield the arena but could be a nightmare for fans.

[Five Banners]

Would they get flooded out of games there? I thought that area flooded frequently? I know they could probably shield the arena but could be a nightmare for fans.

I don’t think they’re talking about Del Ray or old town, this is the train yards, and I don’t recall floods being an issue

[Natsinpwc]

I don’t think they’re talking about Del Ray or old town, this is the train yards, and I don’t recall floods being an issue

OK.

[Natsinpwc]

https://riskfactor.com/neighborhood/potomac-yard/10179_fsid/flood

Some risk.  Just seems when Old Town floods it would be a mess getting around.  Just leave the teams in DC. 

[Five Banners]

https://richmond.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/virginia-considering-arena-deal-for-nbas-wizards-nhls-capitals/article_a7d901d0-9865-11ee-bc08-a70eb1cf3214.html

“Virginia lawmarkers have approved a potential deal to move the NBA's Washington Wizards and the NHL's Washington Capitals to a new arena at Potomac Yard in Alexandria, according to a source close to the decision.”

Also:

“The package is likely to require General Assembly approval. Virginia previously considered proposals for a new Washington Commanders football stadium in Northern Virginia, but the project stalled in the state legislature amid financial questions and controversies surrounding then-owner Dan Snyder.“

[HalfSmokes]

I can’t see the local residents wanting it. If Alexandria has to bid against DC, the winner is going to be left with a god awful deal. That being said, I’d probably buy season tickets if the move

[imref]

If it’s a choice between the arena and data centers…

[Five Banners]

It’s interesting that they went from talking about Arlington as a site to Alexandria pretty quickly. This brought the following to mind:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/07/10/cooke-determined-to-fight-for-potomac-yard-stadium/9fbdcb01-c312-4c65-a687-ebae5d08f50d/

“But the governor dodged a question about whether Alexandria would be able to exert zoning power over Potomac Yard. Because the project would be built under a state-sanctioned stadium authority, there has been speculation that local powers could be nullified.“

Isn’t it interesting that this comes so soon after Alexandria reportedly just shed itself of lots of pesky zoning requirements in a city council vote. While Arlington is currently in court over some of them, the ink isn’t really dry in Alexandria, and now this. Oh, and the mayor right after that announced that he’s not gonna run for reelection, so there’s that.

Also from the above old article:

“At an emergency meeting last night, members of the Alexandria City Council assailed virtually every aspect of the stadium plan and voted to send a letter to Wilder expressing their strong opposition.“

Today, haven’t heard a word about any emergency sessions being called in Alexandria. Take that for what you will.

[HalfSmokes]

What does Alexandria getting rid of single family home zoning have to do with approving a stadium?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I can’t see the local residents wanting it. If Alexandria has to bid against DC, the winner is going to be left with a god awful deal. That being said, I’d probably buy season tickets if the move

I'll be curious what parcel they are talking about. My impression biking in the  area is that there's not enough room left between the Metro and VA tech to put an arena there north of Potomac Ave. I'm assuming the development would be on the eastern side of the strip mall where Target and Best Buy are. you could probably put the arena fronting on Potomac and maybe scale down the use a bit towards Route 1. Since it is mixed use, you could sort of buffer the south side of route 1 by putting condos and apartments along the north side of Richmond Highway. That's similar to what was built west of West Glebe. Have the commercial stuff and the arena on the south side of Potomac between South Glebe and West Glebe. 

Only issue I can think of is what name they could come up with for the road between South Glebe and West Glebe. I guess North Glebe is in Arlington, so they could probably call it North Glebe or maybe East Glebe.

[HalfSmokes]

I'll be curious what parcel they are talking about. My impression biking in the  area is that there's not enough room left between the Metro and VA tech to put an arena there north of Potomac Ave. I'm assuming the development would be on the eastern side of the strip mall where Target and Best Buy are. you could probably put the arena fronting on Potomac and maybe scale down the use a bit towards Route 1. Since it is mixed use, you could sort of buffer the south side of route 1 by putting condos and apartments along the north side of Richmond Highway. That's similar to what was built west of West Glebe. Have the commercial stuff and the arena on the south side of Potomac between South Glebe and West Glebe. 

Only issue I can think of is what name they could come up with for the road between South Glebe and West Glebe. I guess North Glebe is in Arlington, so they could probably call it North Glebe or maybe East Glebe.

I think it's the target. I don't think they'll get rid of the little green space that they have fronting the Potomac, and there would be no real space to develop around it. Every other plot seems nearly developed. I think everything on the otherwise of Rt 1 is pretty much owned by speculators waiting for the right time to develop. I could see this spurring it. 

[Natsinpwc]

I don’t know the area. How is traffic?  How far away is Metro?  The best thing about the current arena is having it right over a metro station.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

It isn't quite over the station. I imagine it may go across the street from the station. Right now, there is a long walkway from the train access point to the street. I imagine needing a more direct connection to the arena and moving sidewalks.