Washington, D.C., and Virginia lawmakers have proposed dueling multimillion-dollar bids that could transform the Washington Wizards' and Capitals' current arena in the District or spur the teams to play in Alexandria instead.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is scheduled to hold a news conference Wednesday morning at Potomac Yard in Alexandria, the proposed site of a new arena for the Washington Wizards and Capitals. We'll livestream the press conference on this page.
Late Tuesday evening, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's office announced legislation to authorize $500 million toward completely renovating and modernizing the teams' current home, Capital One Arena in Gallery Place-Chinatown.
Meanwhile, the Alexandria City Council went into a closed session Tuesday evening to discuss an economic development opportunity that would involve a corporate office relocating to Alexandria and might at some point involve hosting a parade.
Virginia State Sen. Dick Saslaw, who sits on the commonwealth's Major Economic Investment (MEI) Project Approval Commission, confirmed to News4 that the committee met Monday to vote on a deal to build a new arena for the teams.
The package would include at least one new hotel, a music venue/convention center and a $200 million transportation package, said State Del. George Barker, who also serves on the commission. Another Virginia state senator close to discussions said the convention center would have 3,000 seats. That lawmaker said the package also includes a deal for the front office and TV network of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which owns the teams.
Late Monday, the Washington Post reported that the Virginia lawmakers voted in favor of the plan. News4 has reached out to commission members and is awaiting confirmation of the vote's tally.
The package would have to be approved by the full state legislature early next year.
After news of the Virginia plan broke on Monday, a company spokesperson for Monumental did not directly address the possibility, saying only, "Monumental Sports & Entertainment is committed to delivering the best fan experience, winning championships, giving back to our communities, and becoming the most valuable regional sports and entertainment enterprise in the world so that we can continue to reinvest in our fans and community. Our commitment to the DMV is unwavering and we look forward to sharing plans for future investments."
DC mayor announces legislation to renovate Capital One Arena
Legislation introduced Tuesday by Bowser and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson would finance $500 million of an $800 million project over three years beginning in 2024, according to the mayor's office. It would also authorize a lease extension.
"The modernization of the Capital One Arena will be an invaluable investment for continued success and our future prosperity,” Bowser said in a press release. “This proposal represents our best and final offer and is the next step in partnering with Monumental Sports to breathe new life and vibrancy into the neighborhood and to keep the Washington Wizards and the Washington Capitals where they belong – in Washington, D.C.”
The legislation has unanimous support of the D.C. Council, the mayor's office said.
“We are committed to making the most strategic investments possible to keep the District on the best path forward and we view the revitalization of the Gallery Place-Chinatown community and the Capital One Arena as a lynchpin of that strategy,” Mendelson said in the statement from the mayor's office. “This project will fuel jobs, help local businesses, and serve as a top-tier destination for D.C. residents and visitors to the region.”
Plans for the arena include more seating and more concessions. Next to the arena, the plan includes adding a 2,000-3,000 capacity live music venue.
D.C. says it's also committed to initiatives to make the area around Capital One Arena safer.
Capital One Arena has long been credited as the driver that brought Chinatown and downtown D.C. back to economic success in the early 2000s. But now the arena is among the oldest in both the NBA and NHL, and the surrounding area has grappled with rising crime rates.
Also serving as a major concert venue, the 20,000-seat arena hosts a total of 84 games per year for the Caps and Wizards, bringing in tens of thousands of fans. To have the teams leave D.C. now could be devastating to Bowser's post-pandemic comeback plan and to the neighborhood itself.
While Monumental owns Capital One Arena, the District owns the land on which it sits, and Monumental founder and CEO Ted Leonsis has complained about the ground lease. The lease goes until 2047, but Leonsis could get out of it in 2027 if he pays off a bond on the lease, which would cost about $36 million.
In 2016, Leonsis said he had "the worst building deal in professional sports," according to the Washington Post, which reported that he said he was paying $14 million per year in interest, $9 million in principal and maintenance costs that the year before cost $13 million. "By comparison, he said, most teams pay rent of $3 million to $4 million to play in municipally owned arenas," the Post reported.
D.C. and Monumental have been negotiating since early summer, including direct talks between D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Leonsis, a source familiar with the negotiations said. D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson has also participated in the negotiations.
The mayor's office submitted a stronger proposal to Monumental over the weekend, a source who has been part of the negotiations told News4.
Leonsis asked the District this fall for some $600 million in improvements.
Bowser said Monday that she aims to keep both teams in the District.
"Mayor Bowser and [D.C. Council] Chairman [Phil] Mendelson have worked together closely, and in lockstep, to put forward a strong proposal to Monumental Sports, and after several months of negotiations, we are committed to seeing this through as a vital component of D.C.'s comeback," her office told News4.
Virginia would lease new arena to Monumental Sports for 40 years, lawmaker says
Although the details of the Virginia deal have yet to be worked out, Barker said he believes approval is a sure thing.
The proposed site is located behind the Target store in a popular shopping center and next to the new Potomac Yard Metro station. The roughly $200 million of transportation funding that would be included in the deal would help double the capacity of that Metro station, with a walkway directly from the station into the arena.
Barker said the project wouldn't cost Virginia taxpayers anything because it would not come from an existing pool of money. The commonwealth would own any arena and lease it to Monumental for 40 years, and the company's lease would pay off the project over that time, Barker said.
Multiple sources involved with the project said Youngkin's administration and the city of Alexandria have been working hard on this proposal for months. Youngkin's office and Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson declined to comment Monday.
If the commission approves the plan, a formal bill would be drafted and introduced to the full General Assembly this coming session. If approved, Youngkin would then need to sign it, and the proposal would be presented to Monumental, which then would consider Virginia's offer or seek a better deal from the District.
Capital One Arena history
The teams' current facility, Capital One Arena, has been home to the Capitals and Wizards since 1997.
It was originally known as the MCI Center before MCI was acquired by Verizon. It was renamed the Verizon Center in 2006 and changed to the Capital One Arena in 2017.
Ted Leonsis took control of the arena and full ownership of the Capitals in 1999. He later founded Monumental Sports & Entertainment which owns and operates the arena.
Besides the Capitals and Wizards, the arena is home to the Georgetown Men’s Basketball team. Before moving to Capital One, the Capitals and Wizards played their home games at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.
The Mystics played home games there before moving to the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Southeast D.C. in 2019.
The arena is credited with revitalizing the Chinatown neighborhood's economy and helping its recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Capital One Arena website, it's part of a $9.2 billion redevelopment that started when it opened.
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