Capitals/Wizards to renovate current arena for $515M

[mikecubs]

Capitals, Wizards moving to Virginia in tentative state deal

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has reached a tentative agreement with the parent company of the NBA's Washington Wizards and NHL's Washington Capitals to move those teams from the District of Columbia to what he called a new "visionary sports and entertainment venue" in northern Virginia.

The proposal, which would need the state legislature's approval, calls for the creation of a $2 billion sports and entertainment district south of Washington in Alexandria, just miles from the existing arena, Youngkin said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of a news conference Wednesday at the site. It would include an arena for what would be the state's first major professional sports teams, as well as a new Wizards practice facility, a separate performing arts center, a media studio, new hotels, a convention center, housing and shopping.

"The Commonwealth will now be home to two professional sports teams, a new corporate headquarters, and over 30,000 new jobs -- this is monumental," Youngkin said in a statement.

Monumental Sports & Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis appeared with Youngkin and city officials at Wednesday's announcement. He endorsed the proposal, thanked Youngkin and said he had "goose bumps" at the thought of the project coming together "if all goes as planned."

Monumental also owns the WNBA's Mystics, and in its news release Wednesday said that Capital One Arena, where the Wizards and Capitals currently play, could potentially become the Mystics' home again. The WNBA team played there from its inception in 1998 until 2018, then moved to the much-smaller Entertainment and Sports Arena in southeastern Washington, D.C., where the Wizards' G League team, the Capital City Go-Go, also plays. The Mystics won the 2019 WNBA title at 4,200-seat ESA.

Monumental also said Capital One Arena could host various other events, such as NCAA tournament games and concerts.

"Our intention is to expand here and keep Capital One Arena in D.C. a great place," said Leonsis, a wealthy entrepreneur and former AOL executive.

The new development would be located in the Potomac Yard section of Alexandria, near Virginia Tech's ambitious Innovation Campus, a graduate school that is under construction and will be focused on technology.

To help finance the venue project, Youngkin will ask the Virginia General Assembly in the 2024 session to approve the creation of a Virginia Sports and Entertainment Authority, a public entity with the ability to issue bonds. Those bonds would be repaid partly by tax revenues from the project.

"We have reached a very clear understanding, really subject to finalizing the General Assembly's work," Youngkin said in the interview.

Still, on Tuesday night ahead of the announcement, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser unveiled a counterproposal aimed at keeping the teams. The legislation would direct half a billion dollars to modernize Capital One Arena.

"The modernization of the Capital One Arena will be an invaluable investment for continued success and our future prosperity," Bowser said in a statement. "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, DC."

Bowser said that proposal has unanimous support from the D.C. Council.

When the Capitals and Wizards moved from suburban Maryland to D.C.'s Chinatown district in 1997 in what was then known as MCI Center, officials credited the arena with sparking a revival in downtown Washington. In recent years, critics who have faulted city officials for lax crime policies have said the neighborhood around the arena has suffered disproportionately.

The proposed 9 million-square-foot Virginia entertainment district would be developed by JBG Smith, a publicly traded real estate firm that is also the developer of Amazon's new headquarters in neighboring Arlington, Youngkin's office said.

The administration expects the project to generate a combined $12 billion in economic impact for Virginia and the city of Alexandria in the coming decades and create around 30,000 new jobs, Youngkin's office said in a statement. Subject to legislative approval, it would break ground in 2025 and open in late 2028.

The event Wednesday also drew a group of around 10 protesters, who were barely audible from the tent where the announcement took place.


Located along the Potomac, just across the water from Washington, the district would be accessible by "all modes of transportation," Youngkin's office touted in the statement, including from a newly opened Metro station.

Potomac Yard, just south of Reagan National Airport, is currently occupied by strip malls and other retail.

In the 1990s, the site received serious consideration as a site for an NFL stadium, but negotiations between the team and Virginia fell through. The site is adjacent to the redevelopment sparked by Amazon's construction.

Asked how a move by Monumental might impact the state's efforts to lure the NFL's Commanders to Virginia and whether those talks were ongoing, Youngkin said he could not comment.

Legislation aimed at recruiting the football team to northern Virginia fell apart last year.

www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39104234/capitals-wizards-moving-virginia-tentative-state-deal

[mikecubs]

Pics

[mikecubs]

There's lots of talk that NIMBYS will kill this. The Washington football team once tried to build a stadium on this site and they killed it. It's not really suburban but will be hard to get to unless there are major metro upgrades.

[mikecubs]

D.C. mayor, Leonsis announce Caps, Wiz to stay in Washington under new deal

The NBA's Washington Wizards and NHL's Washington Capitals are staying in the District of Columbia for the long term after ownership and the city reached an agreement on a $515 million arena project.

Owner Ted Leonsis and Mayor Muriel Bowser signed a letter of intent on Wednesday for the deal, which keeps the teams in the district through 2050. They announced the development at a joint news conference at Capital One Arena minutes later.

"It's a great day, and I'm really relieved," Leonsis said. "This was not only the right thing for the community, the right thing for the city, the right thing for us, it's a really smart business deal."

The project is set to include 200,000 square feet of expansion of the arena complex into the nearby Gallery Place space, the creation of an entertainment district in the surrounding Chinatown neighborhood and safety and transportation upgrades.

"We are the current home and the future home of the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards," said Bowser, who donned a Wizards jersey. "As Ted likes to say, we're going to be together for a long time."

In a statement, District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said residents "could not have been louder or clearer in expressing their desire for the teams to stay."

"This outcome will have significant positive impacts on economic development, public safety, and overall District energy and spirit generated by the millions of people who attend games, shows, and concerts at Capital One Arena," Schwalb said.

The Council of the District of Columbia will take up the deal next week and is expected to pass it, chairman Phil Mendelson said at the news conference.

The agreement between Monumental Sports & Entertainment and the city came as Alexandria officials said talks for a new arena that would have moved the teams to Virginia had ended. Leonsis acknowledged Virginia had land as an advantage that the district didn't.

"You're in this arms race to build bigger and better and higher quality, and we've been running out of space," Leonsis said, referencing the new entertainment community the agreement envisions that is not nearly as big as the 12 acres that were dedicated to the arena in Virginia. "But it's enough."

The ultrawealthy entrepreneur said he generally wanted to avoid discussing Virginia but did throw a few jabs at the state, where political divisions between Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Democrats who control the Virginia General Assembly contributed to the plan's demise.

"You can't do it alone, and I felt that we were really in a good partnership," Leonsis said, "as opposed to where I thought I would have a great partnership."

The development is a blow to Youngkin, who announced months ago with fanfare the outlines of a proposal negotiated with the teams' parent company to bring them across the Potomac River.

In a statement on Wednesday, the governor expressed disappointment and frustration, laying blame with Democrats.

"This should have been our deal and our opportunity, all the General Assembly had to do was say: 'thank you, Monumental, for wanting to come to Virginia and create $12 billion of economic investment, let's work it out.' But no, personal and political agendas drove away" the deal, he said.

Democrats responded by saying Youngkin had mismanaged the proposal from the start. House Speaker Don Scott said he was blown away by Youngkin's statement, which Scott said seemed like it had been written by a teenager, and bristled at the suggestion that the Legislature should have given the deal an easy sign-off.

"He has lost his sense of good judgment right now," said Scott, who had not fully endorsed the deal but expressed openness to it.

He added that from the tone of the statement, he said Youngkin might retaliate by vetoing the budget lawmakers sent him earlier this month.

Alexandria, which first announced the news, said in a statement posted to its website that it also was disappointed.

"We negotiated a framework for this opportunity in good faith and participated in the process in Richmond in a way that preserved our integrity," the statement said. "We trusted this process and are disappointed in what occurred between the Governor and General Assembly."

Matt Kelly, the CEO of publicly traded real estate company JBG SMITH, a partner to the Alexandria deal as the proposed developer, issued a blistering statement that laid blame on "partisan politics" and raised the prospect that "potential pay-to-play" influences had a hand in the project's downfall.

"Beyond the arena, state and local governments will lose needed tax revenue, economic development credibility, and what could have been Virginia's last best chance to land a professional sports franchise for at least a generation," Kelly said.

The Virginia plan called for the creation of a $2 billion development district in the Potomac Yard section of Alexandria, with not only a new arena but also a practice facility and corporate headquarters for Monumental in addition to a separate performing arts venue.

The general assembly was asked to set up an authority that would issue bonds to finance most of the project, backed partly by the city and state governments and repaid through a mix of projected tax revenues recaptured from the development.

Youngkin and other supporters said the development would generate tens of thousands of jobs, along with new tax revenues beyond what would have been needed to cover the financing.

The plan faced opposition from labor unions, Alexandria residents concerned about traffic and District of Columbia officials who feared the loss of the teams would devastate downtown Washington.

Youngkin and other backers also failed to win over powerful Democratic Sen. L. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth, who chairs the Senate's budget-writing committee. She used that position to block the legislation, citing a range of concerns but foremost the financing structure of the deal: The use of moral obligation bonds put taxpayers and the state's finances at risk, Lucas said.


Lucas celebrated the proposal's demise on Wednesday. On social media, she posted a cartoon of herself swatting away a basketball with the word "REJECTED" superimposed. She wrote, "As Monumental announces today they are staying in Washington DC we are celebrating in Virginia that we avoided the Monumental Disaster!"

Leonsis had shifted his tone on social media in recent days, pointing to large crowds in Capital One Arena this month for everything from the Capitals and Wizards to ACC tournament basketball and a Zach Bryan concert. He posted Wednesday that Monumental expected over 400,000 fans to pass through turnstiles in March.

He and Bowser began talks about keeping the teams in the district not long after Virginia disclosed its offer, including through regular meetings in a posh hotel lobby, Leonsis said.

"Until 10 minutes ago, I had never signed a piece of paper," Leonsis said.

www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39821997/talks-move-forward-lure-wizards-capitals-virginia

[2b9]

Mar 28, 2024 22:23:43 GMT -6 mikecubs said:

D.C. mayor, Leonsis announce Caps, Wiz to stay in Washington under new deal

The NBA's Washington Wizards and NHL's Washington Capitals are staying in the District of Columbia for the long term after ownership and the city reached an agreement on a $515 million arena project.

Owner Ted Leonsis and Mayor Muriel Bowser signed a letter of intent on Wednesday for the deal, which keeps the teams in the district through 2050. They announced the development at a joint news conference at Capital One Arena minutes later.

"It's a great day, and I'm really relieved," Leonsis said. "This was not only the right thing for the community, the right thing for the city, the right thing for us, it's a really smart business deal."

The project is set to include 200,000 square feet of expansion of the arena complex into the nearby Gallery Place space, the creation of an entertainment district in the surrounding Chinatown neighborhood and safety and transportation upgrades.

"We are the current home and the future home of the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards," said Bowser, who donned a Wizards jersey. "As Ted likes to say, we're going to be together for a long time."

In a statement, District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said residents "could not have been louder or clearer in expressing their desire for the teams to stay."

"This outcome will have significant positive impacts on economic development, public safety, and overall District energy and spirit generated by the millions of people who attend games, shows, and concerts at Capital One Arena," Schwalb said.

The Council of the District of Columbia will take up the deal next week and is expected to pass it, chairman Phil Mendelson said at the news conference.

The agreement between Monumental Sports & Entertainment and the city came as Alexandria officials said talks for a new arena that would have moved the teams to Virginia had ended. Leonsis acknowledged Virginia had land as an advantage that the district didn't.

"You're in this arms race to build bigger and better and higher quality, and we've been running out of space," Leonsis said, referencing the new entertainment community the agreement envisions that is not nearly as big as the 12 acres that were dedicated to the arena in Virginia. "But it's enough."

The ultrawealthy entrepreneur said he generally wanted to avoid discussing Virginia but did throw a few jabs at the state, where political divisions between Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Democrats who control the Virginia General Assembly contributed to the plan's demise.

"You can't do it alone, and I felt that we were really in a good partnership," Leonsis said, "as opposed to where I thought I would have a great partnership."

The development is a blow to Youngkin, who announced months ago with fanfare the outlines of a proposal negotiated with the teams' parent company to bring them across the Potomac River.

In a statement on Wednesday, the governor expressed disappointment and frustration, laying blame with Democrats.

"This should have been our deal and our opportunity, all the General Assembly had to do was say: 'thank you, Monumental, for wanting to come to Virginia and create $12 billion of economic investment, let's work it out.' But no, personal and political agendas drove away" the deal, he said.

Democrats responded by saying Youngkin had mismanaged the proposal from the start. House Speaker Don Scott said he was blown away by Youngkin's statement, which Scott said seemed like it had been written by a teenager, and bristled at the suggestion that the Legislature should have given the deal an easy sign-off.

"He has lost his sense of good judgment right now," said Scott, who had not fully endorsed the deal but expressed openness to it.

He added that from the tone of the statement, he said Youngkin might retaliate by vetoing the budget lawmakers sent him earlier this month.

Alexandria, which first announced the news, said in a statement posted to its website that it also was disappointed.

"We negotiated a framework for this opportunity in good faith and participated in the process in Richmond in a way that preserved our integrity," the statement said. "We trusted this process and are disappointed in what occurred between the Governor and General Assembly."

Matt Kelly, the CEO of publicly traded real estate company JBG SMITH, a partner to the Alexandria deal as the proposed developer, issued a blistering statement that laid blame on "partisan politics" and raised the prospect that "potential pay-to-play" influences had a hand in the project's downfall.

"Beyond the arena, state and local governments will lose needed tax revenue, economic development credibility, and what could have been Virginia's last best chance to land a professional sports franchise for at least a generation," Kelly said.

The Virginia plan called for the creation of a $2 billion development district in the Potomac Yard section of Alexandria, with not only a new arena but also a practice facility and corporate headquarters for Monumental in addition to a separate performing arts venue.

The general assembly was asked to set up an authority that would issue bonds to finance most of the project, backed partly by the city and state governments and repaid through a mix of projected tax revenues recaptured from the development.

Youngkin and other supporters said the development would generate tens of thousands of jobs, along with new tax revenues beyond what would have been needed to cover the financing.

The plan faced opposition from labor unions, Alexandria residents concerned about traffic and District of Columbia officials who feared the loss of the teams would devastate downtown Washington.

Youngkin and other backers also failed to win over powerful Democratic Sen. L. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth, who chairs the Senate's budget-writing committee. She used that position to block the legislation, citing a range of concerns but foremost the financing structure of the deal: The use of moral obligation bonds put taxpayers and the state's finances at risk, Lucas said.


Lucas celebrated the proposal's demise on Wednesday. On social media, she posted a cartoon of herself swatting away a basketball with the word "REJECTED" superimposed. She wrote, "As Monumental announces today they are staying in Washington DC we are celebrating in Virginia that we avoided the Monumental Disaster!"

Leonsis had shifted his tone on social media in recent days, pointing to large crowds in Capital One Arena this month for everything from the Capitals and Wizards to ACC tournament basketball and a Zach Bryan concert. He posted Wednesday that Monumental expected over 400,000 fans to pass through turnstiles in March.

He and Bowser began talks about keeping the teams in the district not long after Virginia disclosed its offer, including through regular meetings in a posh hotel lobby, Leonsis said.

"Until 10 minutes ago, I had never signed a piece of paper," Leonsis said.

www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39821997/talks-move-forward-lure-wizards-capitals-virginia

Very interesting.

Also very messy.

Although, glad it’s all cleared up and put to bed.

Cheers,

2b9👍

[mikecubs]

I'm glad they are staying at their current arena. There is no reason a 90's arena should be replaced unless it's poorly located like Glendale,Ottawa. The site in Virginia looked like a god awful traffic mess location.

[2b9]

Mar 29, 2024 16:59:49 GMT -6 mikecubs said:

I'm glad they are staying at their current arena. There is no reason a 90's arena should be replaced unless it's poorly located like Glendale,Ottawa. The site in Virginia looked like a god awful traffic mess location.

I agree with you👍.

Happy Easter😃.

Cheers,

2b9😉😃👍

[mikecubs]

Thank you! Happy Easter to you!

[2b9]

Mar 30, 2024 5:09:39 GMT -6 mikecubs said:

Thank you! Happy Easter to you!

👍