Caps and Wiz moving to Potomac Yards?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/12/13/capitals-wizards-move-alexandria-potomac-yard/

So, from the sketches in the article, it looks like the arena will be north of Potomac Ave (river side), east of the VaTech campus and the intersection of Reed and Potomac, built over the space heading towards East Glebe. Future development over the strip mall and parking lot. While Monumental gets to develop the land by the metro, JBG Smith retains the rights to develop the strip mall area.

As envisioned, Monumental’s facility would anchor a 12-acre mixed-use development in the heart of that area, part of a tentative agreement still subject to multiple state and local approvals. If Monumental ultimately moves to Virginia, it would mark a major economic development win for Youngkin and deal a blow to D.C.’s struggling downtown. The transition could also ease the path for Leonsis to take the company public, a possibility he has openly discussed.

Looks like there's still a say for Alexandria.

It is unclear how much of a hurdle that will be in the General Assembly and in Alexandria City Council, though the proposal has already generated significant concerns from neighbors with questions about potential flooding and traffic impacts.

...
Two people familiar with Virginia’s proposal said it includes about $200 million for transportation improvements to support the new arena, and conversations are underway about expanding capacity at the Potomac Yard Metro station, potentially including adding a ramp that would connect the station directly to the proposed arena.

Youngkin already pitching several Ds in the state senate and house on the deal.

Several prominent Democratic state lawmakers declined to comment on the project Tuesday, saying they wanted to wait until Youngkin formally unveils it. But the few who spoke signaled they were not yet on board.

“I’ve been told this deal will use no state $$ & no impact on debt capacity of the City of Alex or Virginia. Obviously this is a trust but verify situation, needs to be a true win-win to earn my support,” Del. Marcus Simon (D-Fairfax) wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

[HalfSmokes]

Target survives for another day



https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/wizards-capitals-owner-announces-2-billion-plan-to-move-teams-to-virginia/3493235/

It looks like none of the infrastructure spending will be for roads, just enlarging the metro station

[Natsinpwc]

So what’s the proposed timeframe?

[machpost]

So what’s the proposed timeframe?

I've seen the year 2028 mentioned in a few places. I know Monumental owns Capital One Arena, but do they own the land that it sits on?

[HalfSmokes]

I've seen the year 2028 mentioned in a few places. I know Monumental owns Capital One Arena, but do they own the land that it sits on?

they lease the land and own the building. I've read they are stuck through 2027

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

The erosion of the DC tax base since 2020 has been pretty staggering. I saw in Sept that outmigration resulted in the loss of $3bil in taxable personal income over the prev 12 months. And now this.  Anyone want 20 Caps jerseys?

[imref]

it's kind of amazing how they've been able to keep this under wraps until now. Obviously there has been a lot of planning / negotiation over the last several months.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Kind of "Baltimore Colts meets Pearl Harbor" starring Sharon Stone and James Woods

it's kind of amazing how they've been able to keep this under wraps until now. Obviously there has been a lot of planning / negotiation over the last several months.

[Natsinpwc]

Have things really gotten that bad in the area around Capital One crimewise?  Was there in November 2022.  Parked around 6th and D and a walk up 6th street. No issues.

Makes one wonder if the Nats will be far behind.  Especially if Ted ends up buying. 

[imref]

One thing that may soften the blow for DC is that the Wiz and Caps are dealing with declining attendance already. The Wiz are 5th worst in paid seats in terms of total # of seats sold, and dead last in percentage of seats sold. This  https://www.espn.com/nba/attendance about 16,800 tickets sold per game, but there's no way they are drawing anywhere near that in actual attendance.

The Caps are averaging 17,280. I've been to two games this season (VGN and Dallas, both midweek games, and the arena looked to be about 2/3rds full for each.

[imref]

Have things really gotten that bad in the area around Capital One crimewise?  Was there in November 2022.  Parked around 6th and D and a walk up 6th street. No issues.

Makes one wonder if the Nats will be far behind.  Especially if Ted ends up buying. 

Crime across the city is up, especially car jackings. The area around the arena is fine during games and other events, but i'd avoid it otherwise. A number of businesses in the area have closed due to rising crime. We went to caps game last week and walked around the christmas market before the game and never felt unsafe.

[Natsinpwc]

Crime across the city is up, especially car jackings. The area around the arena is fine during games and other events, but i'd avoid it otherwise. A number of businesses in the area have closed due to rising crime. We went to caps game last week and walked around the christmas market before the game and never felt unsafe.

Our main office was in that area who I worked for from 1980-97.  East of the arena. Was not a great area back then and used to watch them doing construction on the arena.  Was great to see the area transform.  Sad to see it reverting. 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

it's kind of amazing how they've been able to keep this under wraps until now. Obviously there has been a lot of planning / negotiation over the last several months.

along that lines, JBG was going to put up a couple of apartments on this land and cancelled plans last summer, according to the article I linked to above. I think Youngkin figured if he won the house and the senate, he could have rammed this through and even overridden Alexandria. Once the Ds ended up in control of both houses of the legislature, I'm sure it started calling more on his negotiation skills.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Leonsis does talk about plans for the old arena. Some conversion of the space as more live event space and also a venue for the Mystics. Monumental says that having to lock in 80 plus dates for the Caps and Wiz constrained live events they could stage.

[imref]

Leonsis does talk about plans for the old arena. Some conversion of the space as more live event space and also a venue for the Mystics. Monumental says that having to lock in 80 plus dates for the Caps and Wiz constrained live events they could stage.

MONSTER TRUCK JAM!!

FWIW, I looked at upcoming events at CBT in Baltimore (which seats about 14k). They are running typically about 5-10 nights of events a month. That's a big drop-off.

[HalfSmokes]

Someone on twitter pointed out that the outside concert venue is a quarter mile from the runway at national

[imref]

i'd bet Waze will show a 2 hour drive from Fairfax to Caps games.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Ted will probably try to get FAA to stop flights in & out of DCA on event nights.

Someone on twitter pointed out that the outside concert venue is a quarter mile from the runway at national

(Image removed from quote.)

[Smithian]

Leonsis does talk about plans for the old arena. Some conversion of the space as more live event space and also a venue for the Mystics. Monumental says that having to lock in 80 plus dates for the Caps and Wiz constrained live events they could stage.

I would believe that except for the fact .... why wouldn't some of those events just go over to NoVa? Still near a population center and a lot more premium seating.

DC's problem is I think there will be a guaranteed massive drop off at Cap One. But DC will still need a major indoor arena, meaning it will survive in some sort of purgatory.

DC would have been better off with the Caps and Wizards moving to Richmond or somewere like San Antonio. They're in the suburbs. There is no "Go get another pro sports team!" option.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

It's going to be in the same sad limbo Nassau was when the Islanders announced their move to Brooklyn - minus the happy ending of a new arena 5 years later. 

At the moment, unless my mood changes drastically, I don't even want to go to any of the remaining games this season, let alone renew. 

 

I would believe that except for the fact .... why wouldn't some of those events just go over to NoVa? Still near a population center and a lot more premium seating.

DC's problem is I think there will be a guaranteed massive drop off at Cap One. But DC will still need a major indoor arena, meaning it will survive in some sort of purgatory.

DC would have been better off with the Caps and Wizards moving to Richmond or somewere like San Antonio. They're in the suburbs. There is no "Go get another pro sports team!" option.

[imref]

I just don't see the Wizards drawing in NoVa unless Ted opens the pocket book and brings in a major star.

[HalfSmokes]

I just don't see the Wizards drawing in NoVa unless Ted opens the pocket book and brings in a major star.

The same is true even if they stay down town

[JCA-CrystalCity]

i'd bet Waze will show a 2 hour drive from Fairfax to Caps games.

down little river turnpike to quaker lane to Braddock to Commonwealth to Monroe to Potomac Ave. Never have to get on 395 or Route 1.

[Natsinpwc]

I just don't see the Wizards drawing in NoVa unless Ted opens the pocket book and brings in a major star.

No star wants to come to the Wizards. His pocketbook is irrelevant at this point.  They will
Need to stumble onto some stars via the draft.  And then maybe they can attract a top free agent. 

[Five Banners]

down little river turnpike to quaker lane to Braddock to Commonwealth to Monroe to Potomac Ave. Never have to get on 395 or Route 1.

That already backs up at the drop of a hat at rush-hour. I don’t know that they could’ve come up with the worse location with limited alternates other than sitting in the neighborhood traffic. A sizable portion of people going to DC United games (comparable capacity to this) take the metro, yet the traffic still backs up precisely because everything is adjacent to a gridlocked neighborhood not built for stadium traffic. Multiply that by “220+” events.