
Now that the D.C. Mayor’s office and the National Park Service have officially signed the paperwork to transfer the RFK Stadium site from the federal government to the District, there has been much speculation and anticipation about what will happen next!
Renderings of proposed RFK Stadium redesign that went viral
The viral images of a potential design for the new stadium in D.C. were developed by KATO, an architecture and design firm founded by Virginia Tech Grad Kyle Murphy with the help of ATCHAIN, an architecture visualization firm based in Shanghai.
However, the proposed design expands beyond the stadium, focusing on turning the area around the RFK site into a zone dedicated to “home-team enthusiasm, national pride, and local economic growth” with the addition of new housing complexes, mixed-use spaces, and retail locations.
What’s next for the RFK Stadium site?
The next steps for the redevelopment of the RFK Stadium site might span years and will certainly face multiple obstacles in the future.
That being said, the next steps that we can expect will include:
- A few more legislative measures, like final approval of the transfer from the D.C. City Council.
- Demolition of the RFK Stadium structure.
- Negotiations with the Washington Commanders’ front office regarding infrastructural aspects of the stadium, such as parking allocation, dome vs. no dome, or even access via public transit.
- Once the final scope of the construction project has been defined, a final design needs to be agreed upon to kick off construction.
According to the new owner of the Commanders, Josh Harris, who has previously expressed interest in returning to Washington-based stadium, a “reasonable target” for a new stadium in D.C. would be 2030.
Who will pay for the new stadium at the RFK site?
The budget for public spending on a new RFK Stadium project needs to be cleared in local legislation in the D.C. City Country before being confirmed and announced publically, but that could be years away.
There will be extensive negotiations taking place between the local government and vested groups that would utilize the stadium, namely the Washington Commanders football team – these talks will include things like the extent of public funding for the construction of the stadium, potential tax breaks for the Commanders organization, etc…
These negotiations might take years to finalize, but it’s worth noting that D.C.’s Mayor Bowser has until April to submit next year’s fiscal budget proposal for the District, which could have some budget allocated to move the project forward.