Property Values in Alexandria [If the new entertainment district gets built]

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I live and work in Alexandria, and don’t know anyone who thinks this is a positive thing.

Then expand your bubble.

This thread is about Alexandria, dumbass.

NP - Real life Alexandrian here. Suspecting you, like many of my neighbors, are incapable of much beyond your expressions of dissatisfaction and outrage.

This one of the more exciting things to happen to our area. Frankly, I'm sick of the repetitive complaint-filled convos about bike lanes, renaming streets, our crap schools and affordable housing. The arena the first improvement in a LONGGGGG time that the whole community can enjoy.

Or is that too much fun for you to handle?

I live in Del Ray, a 15-minute walk from the proposed site, and I am not excited. I favor most development and would be happy if they tore down the big box stores there now and built denser multi-use retail and housing. But a 20000 seat arena is a different beast and is likely going to be a traffic disaster for Lynhaven and north Del Ray. I suspect those Alexandrians who are excited about this do not live right next door. Would you want this a 15-minute walk from your house?

With the 70 acres in discussion, exchanging the arena with housing would bring way more than 20,000 residents.

I’d much rather have people visit and spending their money, have 20,000+ live here full time and strain city resources further (schools, sewers, etc.).

If anything, the arena is the lesser evil compared to what could happen if planning and development were left to the fools on city council.

(And don’t thank/blame any of the them for this deal. The arena was far beyond their pay grade.)

20,000 residents wouldn't fit on 70 acres unless you're talking about Manhattan style density. But also, all of those residents wouldn't be trying to arrive and depart at the exact same time four nights per week the way attendees at a hockey or basketball game will. And they wouldn't be driving around surrounding neighborhoods looking for parking.

I’d argue that more full-time residents would be worse. They’d be leaving and returning each day during rush hour. Neither of us can pretend to know the precise number of units that could fit, but the issue here is the city is thirsty for density.

The consensus seems that people prefer the space to stay as-is, but that isn’t an option.

With this city council, it’s either this stadium or some other uninspired development that might cause even more issues. Improving traffic is drastically easier to solve when compared to the social justice warriors the city faces just to get a new high school.

Tax revenue from people who leave is better than tax revenue from people who stay and require more services.

Finally we’ll have cash flow from something other than real estate taxes. Smile. This is a good thing.

As yes, it’s inconvenient for people who live in the nearby proximity but the council has also been clear they don’t care about you.

I wouldn’t expect that you’d like one of their alternatives much better.

[Anonymous]

Big sports complex property values tend to rise in underdeveloped areas because it attracts people with money. In developed areas it can decrease values because of traffic and crowds. I used to live near Wrigley Field in Chicago and game day or concert traffic and crowds were awful. Property values two miles away were much higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Would you want this a 15-minute walk from your house?

Hell yes! I wouldn’t want to live on the same block nor would I want to live between the metro and the stadium, but I’d love love love to gain 10-20 new restaurants within a 15 min walk of my home, which is what this will deliver for many residents who live within 2 miles.

[Anonymous]

I live in Alexandria and think this is the best news ever. More cool bars and restaurants in close proximity. More to do. Higher property values, more tax revenue. All the crap projects and buildings in that area will probably be torn down. Other than the traffic, there is no downside in my opinion.

Bowser should make a play to get the Commanders back in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Would you want this a 15-minute walk from your house?

Hell yes! I wouldn’t want to live on the same block nor would I want to live between the metro and the stadium, but I’d love love love to gain 10-20 new restaurants within a 15 min walk of my home, which is what this will deliver for many residents who live within 2 miles.

This will change the demographic. Older people who bought many years ago will leave. The food at these restaurants is not healthy and the noise is not great. The boomer money will leave. There may be tear downs and Del Ray is going to be denser housing at the end of the day. But as people have said, nothing stays the same. It may look more like Clarendon/Ballston as far as having younger childless people there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Alexandria and think this is the best news ever. More cool bars and restaurants in close proximity. More to do. Higher property values, more tax revenue. All the crap projects and buildings in that area will probably be torn down. Other than the traffic, there is no downside in my opinion.

Bowser should make a play to get the Commanders back in DC.

Do you live walking distance to the stadium in a neighborhood that will be overrun with cars on game days?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Alexandria and think this is the best news ever. More cool bars and restaurants in close proximity. More to do. Higher property values, more tax revenue. All the crap projects and buildings in that area will probably be torn down. Other than the traffic, there is no downside in my opinion.

Bowser should make a play to get the Commanders back in DC.

Do you live walking distance to the stadium in a neighborhood that will be overrun with cars on game days?

Homes and neighborhoods with off-street parking will be more desirable. No doubt, off street parking will be must-have for new construction within a mile of the development. Even so, few event attendees will walk more than a mile, so if you are 1.5-2 miles out, I don’t think you’ll see much impact provided you aren’t on a street that visitors will cut through, and you don’t have to navigate between your home and the stadium center as part of your evening commute. If buying or investing in the area, location will be critical, and I can see some areas 1.0-1.5 miles out being far more desirable than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Would you want this a 15-minute walk from your house?

Hell yes! I wouldn’t want to live on the same block nor would I want to live between the metro and the stadium, but I’d love love love to gain 10-20 new restaurants within a 15 min walk of my home, which is what this will deliver for many residents who live within 2 miles.

This will change the demographic. Older people who bought many years ago will leave. The food at these restaurants is not healthy and the noise is not great.

The demographic that visits hockey and basketball games, and especially concerts, is younger and more health conscious than say, the demographic that visits Commander and Nationals games. The average age of NHL and NBA fans is the lowest among all professional sports (roughly 50% under age 45). There will be plenty of new restaurants that cater to the vegan and healthy eating population. What most of these restaurants won’t be … is cheap, as rents near the stadium center are likely to increase significantly.

[Anonymous]

For those worried about traffic and street parking in Del Ray, you better believe the city will make these streets no parking either during game time or 24/7 except those without a city permit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am just furious over using tax dollars for this. Youngkin sucks so hard.

There aren't any tax dollars- they are issuing a bond and then paying for it through a TIF. That increment financing is how a lot of public works/ development gets funded nowadays. There is a difference between baseline tax revenue if nothing gets done vs the higher tax revenue after an expensive development. The TIF siphons this off to pay for the development to happen in the first place

There are no free lunches. . . . but this is about as close as you can get

What happens if the tax revenues from the stadium are not sufficient to service the P&I from the hundreds of millions in debt that Alexandria is on the hook for?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Would you say the same thing if it was in your backyard?

You live in the shopping center? Or you live in the Va Tech facility? Those are the two properties that neighbor the site. And it's always been very, very clear that Potomac Yards was going to be developed as high density mixed use.

This is going to affect the traffic in major way! Also density in the worst possible way! People of Alexandria should have a say!

It's barely in Alexandria and is adjacent to a metro station. The massive construction in National Landing will have far more of a long term impact on Alexandria traffic. It's not exactly like Capital One arena currently has good highway access.

9th and 12th streets have direct access to the SE SW Freeway. And there is a new ramp to the stub freeway just east of the arena near F Street south of Mass Ave. So it actually has better freeway access than the Virginia Potomac Yards location with its very limited Rt 1 and 395 interchange.