DC Council to make RFK Stadium site transfer official

On Tuesday, the D.C. Council will take up emergency legislation introduced to officially transfer jurisdiction of the RFK Stadium and Campus from the federal government to the District of Columbia. This transfer involves about 175.6 acres in Ward 7, according to Council Chairman Phil Mendelson's emergency request, which was submitted at the behest of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.

RFK Stadium Site Transfer Legislation on Agenda

Whether a new stadium will be built at the RFK campus — and who will pay for it — are important questions that still linger. "What I would really like is for the executive to sit down with the legislative branch to talk this through and see if we can have some shared view on the approach," said Mendelson at a news conference ahead of Tuesday's legislative session. "Typically, the executive decides whether it's going to be a master developer or how they're going to approach the development. There would be RFPs, but as you know those get heavily negotiated. So what it looks like going into the process and what it looks like coming out of the process can be very different."

He also noted, "If you take a master developer approach, one could conceivably work out the numbers such that the overall development helps pay for something like a stadium and avoids — avoids public [dollars] having to go into it." Mendelson also noted that The Wharf was done with a master developer approach. 

Debate Continues Over New Stadium and Funding

Mendelson told reporters he doesn't believe any taxpayer dollars should go into building a new football stadium because there are enough large capital projects that need to be worked on, which would now be in competition with a new RFK Stadium. This includes what Mendelson estimates is around $600 million needed in repairs to Nationals Park, a stadium/ballpark the city owns. He also says the D.C. Jail needs to be rebuilt, and costly repairs are also needed to the old D.C. Police headquarters.

When asked about their "partnership," Mendelson told FOX 5 the Council is not aware of any deals already struck between D.C. Mayor Bowser and Washington Commanders managing partner Josh Harris.

Mendelson and Mayor Bowser were supposed to take part in a forum discussing the future of the RFK Site planned for Monday night, but the mayor needed to cancel. The Mayor's Office tells FOX 5 they're working on a reschedule date and time.

FOX 5 also reached out to the Mayor's office to ask whether Mayor Bowser already has a plan on which RFK site development direction she wants to go in — and if/when she plans to meet with the D.C. Council on it.

Mendelson does not expect any issues with passing the emergency transfer bill on Tuesday. A 2/3rds vote is needed to pass.

Josh Harris also spoke at an end-of-season news conference late Monday morning — with all ears listening to what he might say on whether the Washington Commanders are in fact moving to D.C.

FOX 5's David Kaplan will have that part of the story. This is a developing story.

The Source: Information in this article comes from FOX 5 reporting.

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