Reply to NFL Commanders building $3bn new stadium in Ward 7 on the old RFK site

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Seems like MD's republican congressional reps are trying to block DC's ability to use its own funds to lure the Commanders. Just heard an interview with Andy Harris talking about how DC shouldn't be able to have the billion dollars currently blocked from use to fund  a stadium [/quote]

For the the first time ever, I agree with Andy Harris: D.C. should not use this particular billion dollars to fund a stadium. But that's because we should be able to use those billion dollars to fund the operating expenses they were budgeted to cover.

I'd also prefer if D.C. spent $0 to fund a stadium — I think the Commanders' owners are quite capable of paying the full cost themselves — but I doubt Andy Harris agrees with me on that as a general principal.[/quote]

[b]Josh Harris is paying the full cost of building the stadium[/b].  DC on the other hand is paying the cost to develop the surrounding land, including DPR facilities, bike lanes and infrastructure for the new housing.  Heck, the Anacostia trail expenses in the current budget are part of the deal.

What line item costs in the current proposal do you think DC should not pay?  We're not paying anything for construction of the stadium itself.  That $1 billion is for the "attainable" housing, park facilities and "multi-modal" transportation.[/quote]

Nope. DC is putting up $500 million towards prepping the land for the stadium. Bowser initially claimed that this was all for “horizontal” work but it seems to actually include foundations and a lot of other stuff that is integral to the stadium construction.

The Commanders will also pay no property tax (as DC owns the stadium and will lease it to them for $1 a year), no sales taxes on the parking, and sales taxes generated by the stadium and associated development will go straight back to the stadium in the form of a maintenance fund.

The city plans to pay for its investments through extending the Ballpark Levy that paid for Nationals Park. This is a tax that is applied on any company that earns more than $5 million in revenue. Not a great idea when the city needs to be attracting private business to the city to offset the loss of federal jobs.

I would say that Josh Harris rang rings around Muriel Bowser in this negotiation, but it’s not even clear that her interests are at all aligned with those of the city. If she seals this deal for the Commanders, I’m sure the NFL will have a very nice gig waiting for her in November 2028.[/quote]

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