The chair of the D.C. Council indicated Thursday that he believes negotiations to bring a new Washington Commanders stadium to the old RFK Stadium site will be successful, and that the council will approve a stadium deal.
In an interview with WTOP’s Nick Iannelli, D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson said that while his view is that the city should not use public tax dollars to subsidize the stadium, he acknowledged he’s in the minority and would negotiate in good faith. “My personal view is not the prevailing view on the council. The prevailing view on the council, however, is that we need to do our due diligence, scrutinize the proposal and make sure it’s the best deal possible for the District and for the taxpayers. I do think the deal can be improved,” Mendelson said.
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The proposal announced by Mayor Muriel Bowser totals nearly $4 billion, and would include a 65,000-seat stadium and surrounding development at the RFK Stadium site with plans to open the venue in 2030. Under the arrangement agreed to by the mayor’s office and the Commanders, the team would contribute $2.7 billion and the city would contribute roughly $1.1 billion over the next eight years for the new stadium and redevelopment of housing, a sportsplex and other venues nearby. As Mendelson indicated to WTOP on Thursday, it’s likely that further negotiations will take place and the terms of the deal may change before the council gives it the green light. “I do think that we will, with the majority view — that is that there will be some public subsidy — that we will reach a deal,” Mendelson said. It could be a while before that deal is reached, however. The council is tied up with revising this year’s budget and there have been delays in getting council members a formal stadium proposal to review, according to Mendelson. “It’s not going to happen as quickly as the mayor had promised. The mayor apparently negotiated a deadline for the council without any consultation with the council. The mayor announced this, as we know, several weeks ago — we still don’t have a proposal. She could have submitted it to us already. So these delays are not our doing,” he said. “It will be difficult to meet the mayor’s deadline of July 15,” he added. WTOP’s Nick Iannelli contributed to this report.
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