This past December, DMV area residents were surprised to learn that the Capitals and Wizards would likely move out of Capital One Arena and into Potomac Yard in Alexandria. However, the $2 billion plan previously announced by Monumental Sports & Entertainment CEO, Ted Leonsis, and Virginia Governor, Glenn Youngkin, will not move forward.
Now, the focus is on a total transformation of Capital One Arena, including 200,000 square feet of additional space, a new state-of-the-art venue, five-star dining experiences, and more.
Is this a done deal?
The decision is indeed finalized. On the evening of Wednesday, March 27th, D.C. Muriel Mayor Bowser announced via a live media avail that Monumental Sports & Entertainment signed a new term sheet keeping the Capitals and Wizards in D.C. until 2050. D.C. will invest $500 million in the renovation and modernization of Capital One Arena in downtown D.C., plus an additional $15 million to expand the teams’ footprint downtown.
While the location change would have brought a massive new facility to Potomac Yard, along with new retail and residential buildings, the Capitals and Wizards will now remain at Capital One Arena for the foreseeable future.
Although this is a happy day for D.C. sports fans, some Virginians feel differently. The city of Alexandria confirmed that the negotiations for the development of the Potomac Yard Entertainment District were over via a written statement on their website, assuring residents that they “negotiated a framework for this opportunity in good faith.”
Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson expressed his disappointment, sharing in a video statement that the city of Alexandria will “turn [its] focus to other efforts to bring quality commercial opportunities to the community in the future.”
Why are the Capitals and Wizards no longer leaving D.C.?
As typically is the case, several budgeting and logistical conflicts left Ted Leonsis with a challenging choice to make. Labor unions pushed back on the massive development proposal, fearing that a new arena in Alexandria would create traffic mayhem. While those in favor of the move argued that the new arena would provide thousands of new jobs, others worried that the loss of of the Capitals and Wizards in D.C. would devastate downtown businesses in Penn Quarter.
Additionally, as claimed in an email Leonsis sent to fans and supporters, “while the Virginia House of Delegates did great work in evaluating [the] proposal, the Senate sadly did no work in even providing [them] a fair hearing on the true financial benefit of the project.”
Via a live media avail with Mayor Bowser, Chairman Mendelson, and Ted Leonsis, Leonsis added that “D.C. did everything right from December on” to influence his decision to keep the teams in D.C.. Even so, he noted that this decision was a challenging one.