UPDATE: Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, 1:23 p.m.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) united around a last-ditch effort to keep the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals in the District with legislation that supports the renovation and modernization of Capital One Arena.
If passed, the legislation, titled the Downtown Arena Modernization and Downtown Revitalization Act of 2023, will infuse a half-billion dollars into the creation of an arena that public officials hope will attract economic activity to Gallery Place-Chinatown, and downtown D.C. at large.
Per the legislation, the District, upon receiving the authority to extend a lease agreement, would finance $500 million toward a three-year, $800 million renovation project slated to start in 2024. Bowser said that District Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee recently facilitated a refinancing that gave D.C. more latitude to utilize funds from its capital improvement budget.
“We had a series of offers, beginning from 25 years and hundreds of millions of dollars until our last and best deal offer — all-cash deal over three years,” Bowser said Wednesday during a presser at the John A. Wilson Building.
Hours earlier, Ted Leonsis, CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment and majority owner of the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards, announced an ongoing deal that would move the teams from Capital One Arena to Potomac Yards in Alexandria, Virginia.
Bowser, flanked by former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, Councilmembers Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) and Anita Bonds (D-At large), and members of D.C.’s business community, expressed disappointment about the possibility of another jurisdiction taking the Capitals and Wizards. She also questioned whether Virginia’s offer has been solidified, all while touting the benefits of keeping the Wizards and Capitals in downtown D.C.
“People love cities,” Bowser said. “They are hubs of history, culture, and energy and that will continue to be the case. People will continue to bet on cities, experience real culture and history. We know we have great neighborhoods, Chinatown being one of our best. And we’re behind an invigorated vision and investment.”
Relevant parties have expressed a commitment to a “swift and expedited” review and approval process for the arena’s construction plans. The council, which unanimously supports the legislation, is gelling together plans to shepherd the legislation through before February 2024. Bowser also commissioned Deborah Ratner Salzberg of Uplands Real Estate Partners and Jodi McClain, chief culture officer of Capitol Floats, to develop a plan for Gallery Place’s revitalization.
Earlier this year, Monumental Sports & Entertainment mulled a move to Northern Virginia amid skepticism that the D.C. government would invest in upgrades to Capital One Arena and the surrounding area. Virginia lawmakers recently approved a proposal for an 8 million square foot sports and mixed-used campus on the site, an arrangement that Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) reportedly called “a remarkable economic development project for the commonwealth.”
On Wednesday morning, Leonsis said he would still own Capital One Arena, and even expressed a desire to see the Washington Mystics return to the arena. Some people, like Ward 8 D.C. Council candidate Markus Batchelor, said such a move would devastate the Entertainment & Sports Arena, the Congress Heights venue the Mystics have called home since 2018.
Capital One Arena hosts more than 80 sporting events each year. It opened in 1997 as the MCI Center to the relief of District professional basketball fans who lamented traveling to the D.C. suburbs for games.
The arena changed names over the years, becoming the Verizon Center and most recently Capital One Arena.
Abe Pollin, the owner of Capitals and Wizards at the time, privately funded the construction of the arena, while the D.C. government purchased a portion of the land, prepared the site, and expanded Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro.
In the late 1990s, Leonsis purchased a 36% stake in Pollin’s holdings, including the arena and full ownership of the Capitals. After Pollin’s 2010 death, Leonsis, through Monumental Sports & Entertainment, gained full ownership of the arena and Wizards. In recent years, Leonsis counted among those who spoke out against crime in the District, which he said threatens the economic viability of Gallery Place-Chinatown.
To that end, Pinto, the council’s public safety and judiciary chair whose jurisdiction includes Capital One Arena, said District government officials are coalescing around the movement to keep a large portion of the District professional sports ecosystem intact.
“Rooting for our hometown team unites residents across the District with pride and is a galvanizing force for economic development,” Pinto said. “The arena is a pillar of downtown D.C. and a key component of our strategy to strengthen the future of downtown and the District. It’s imperative that our D.C. teams stay right here at home in Washington, D.C. We will keep fighting.”