Commanders await D.C. Council's stadium vote after sometimes heated hearing

New York Times

31-07-2025

WASHINGTON — If the D.C. Council's vote on the Washington Commanders' proposed new stadium is a fait accompli, one would hate to see what a less certain process looks like.
Over two days, as the Council contemplated its Friday vote on a proposed 65,000-seat stadium for the Commanders, there was discussion — sometimes heated — about parking. About unions. About the Metrorail. More about parking. About jobs, whether union or non-union, and how much they would pay. About how much the Commanders would pay if their promise to construct 5,000 to 6,000 affordable housing units is delayed, or isn't realized. About the Commanders' stadium being LEED certified when it's completed, as are many NFL stadiums. About protecting the nearby Anacostia River. About hotels. Still more about parking.
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'I just want to make sure the public never loses sight of what we're getting,' D.C. mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said afterward. 'It's a really good deal.'
The Council heard more than 18 hours of testimony over two days from a cross-section of the city's working classes, its elites, its longtime football fans, the mayor, Commanders' president Mark Clouse and more than 500 other interested parties.
At the end, the sense remained that Council chairman Phil Mendelson (D) has the minimum eight votes needed from the 12 current council members to pass the legislation. If the measure passes Friday, a second vote will be needed in mid-September; that vote would require nine yes votes, after Ward 8 councilman-elect Trayon White is sworn in.
Asked if she thinks she and the city have the votes, Bowser said, 'Yes.'
'We were very pleased with the session,' Bowser said. 'We got some good questions out, got to answer them publicly, directly. We feel pretty good about it.'
The Commanders are committing $2.7 billion toward the stadium, which would be built at the site of crumbling RFK Stadium, the team's home during its glory years. The franchise would also be the master developer of an entertainment district and other mixed-use facilities on two parcels of land. The city is committing a little more than $1 billion toward stadium infrastructure costs and the construction of two garages totaling 8,000 parking spaces.
'We will be good partners to the city — not just now, but for decades to come — and we welcome continued engagement to be fair, responsible, and aligned with the District's long-term goals,' Clouse said in his prepared testimony. 'This can and will be a true catalyst of growth that will support and benefit ongoing budget discussions well into the future.'
The Commanders made several financial concessions to the city last week, after the Council sought changes to the deal. The team will now give the city an estimated $260 million in parking revenue from non-stadium event days, an estimated $248 million — 10 percent — of the sales taxes on food and beverages sold at Commanders' games, another $112 million in parking taxes and $54 million in sales taxes on all merchandise sold at the stadium, for a total of $674 million over 30 years.
D.C. City Council Chair Phil Mendelson announced the multiple concessions the city has gotten from the Commanders as part of the revised agreement between the team and city that will officially be voted on by the Council on Aug. 1, as reported yesterday in @TheAthletic. Details: pic.twitter.com/tiyCe2wmrl
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) July 24, 2025
The Commanders sent a letter to the Council late Tuesday detailing further commitments, including $50 million of investments over the next 30 years 'prioritizing businesses and residents in Wards 5, 7, and 8,' which border or are near the proposed stadium site.
That total includes $20 million for a Commanders Youth Academy, which will focus, according to the letter, 'on educational success and youth sports located in Ward 7.'
The other promised investments include:
The remaining $13 million could be invested in projects and initiatives at the Council's discretion.
Clouse said the Commanders would work with local partners to get a new grocery store constructed in Ward 7.
Bowser engaged in sharp exchanges with at-large councilmember Robert White, who said Tuesday that he is still uncommitted on the project. White said he wants assurances that current residents living near the stadium site will not be priced out of their neighborhoods after new hotels, restaurants and other high-end buildings drive up property taxes in the area.
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'I do not believe we can, or should, pass a bill without a plan to protect the residents around RFK from displacement,' Robert White said, while sparring with both Clouse and Bowser. 'We are very clear on what we need to do to get the Commanders here, in terms of taxes, revenues and all that balance. But there are people who live around the site now whose tax dollars are going to be used to build a stadium that will price them out …whether they are renters or retirees.'
Robert White asked Bowser to commit to a housing preservation fund, out of revenue created by the stadium project, to help keep low-income renters and owners in their homes. Bowser noted that the city already has protections for all homeowners in the District from massive year-to-year increases in property taxes — no more than 10 percent in a given year for most homeowners, and no more than 2 percent for senior citizens.
White was not swayed.
'I mean, we're talking about the second-most gentrified jurisdiction in the nation, on a project that is absolutely going to make the cost of housing skyrocket,' White said.
Robert White was also critical of the team's decision to keep its headquarters in College Park, Md.
'It's like, 'let's go steady. We'll move in together, but I'm still gonna keep my place in College Park,'' White said.
Bowser said that she reached an understanding of sorts with Maryland's two U.S. senators, during the negotiations on the congressional bill giving control of the site back to the District, that the Commanders would remain in the state.
'I have had forthright conversations, and I know the Commanders have, with our partners in Maryland, our political partners in Maryland, and in Virginia,' Bowser said. 'We have made clear our desire to get our team, the Washington Commanders, in Washington. But we didn't make it a kind of free-for-all, of D.C. going into Maryland. Respectfully, councilmembers, I would ask you to help me keep that commitment.'
It's time to get through the window of opportunity before it closes.
On Friday, I'm asking for the DC Council's strong unified vote to help shift our economy, grow jobs and business opportunities, and bring our team home. pic.twitter.com/ahKaaTag4b
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) July 30, 2025
Both Clouse and Bowser said they would support the construction of a new firehouse on or near the new buildout to handle the increased commercial and residential activity.
In the letter, Clouse also said the Commanders will commit to 'developing a parking plan that does not preclude the construction of a new infill Metrorail station on or near Oklahoma Avenue, if it is deemed necessary at full build out of the RFK Campus.' Multiple people who testified Tuesday pointed to the need to enhance the existing Metrorail stop that served the original stadium site. The need to build at least one additional entranceway to the station has been a constant refrain from critics of the plan.
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The Commanders also vowed to build and operate the new stadium to a 'LEED Platinum' standard, the highest level of certification, and committed to achieving a minimum of 'LEED Gold' (the second-highest level) for the accompanying mixed-use development.
Commanders owner Josh Harris indicated in April he would like to have 'RFK' be part of the new stadium's name, noting he wants to 'get as close to our heritage as we can.' Clouse took it a step further, writing in his letter to the Council that that the team will build the stadium and surrounding mixed-use development 'in a manner that honors the legacy of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy, including opportunities to memorialize him and his good works in park names, private street names, or other respectful measures.'
Clouse also wrote that the team recognizes that working with the NWSL's Washington Spirit 'may result in a mutually beneficial relationship.' The Commanders are in early talks with the Spirit about potentially accommodating the soccer team at the new stadium, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions. The Spirit plays home games at Audi Field in D.C. and train at Inova Performance Complex in Leesburg, Va.