A proposed $2 billion sports-focused development in Alexandria, Va., faces an uncertain future after state lawmakers refused to include provisions for public financing in the 2024-2026 fiscal year budget.
Announced last December by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (D) and Monumental Sports and Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis, the proposal would have created a new entertainment district in the Potomac Yards area, centered around ‘a new home for Washington, DC’s professional basketball and hockey teams. , which currently occupies a city center built in 1997. The 70-acre site would also include a central campus for Monumental, as well as a basketball practice facility, a performing arts venue, facilities for expanded sports sports, hotels, retail, restaurants, conferences and community. meeting spaces
The public-private partnership’s financing plan called for $1.5 billion in bonds issued by the city and state, with the city of Alexandria and Monumental providing the remainder. The bonds were to be repaid through a project’s revenues, such as lease payments, site-specific taxes and naming rights.
The proposal had been seen as an opportunity to capitalize on the intense redevelopment of the adjacent National Landing neighborhood, anchored by Amazon’s East Coast headquarters, as well as proximity to Washington Reagan National Airport. Teams were due to move into the arena in 2028 if the plan went ahead.
Despite an Alexandria-funded economic study projecting nearly $30 million a year in new local tax revenue from the new district, critics feared the advertised $2 billion price tag did not reflect the true cost. They also criticized the plan’s heavy reliance on local and state bonds, which posed an unreasonable risk to taxpayers if the development failed to meet economic expectations. Monumental’s commitment to hire union labor for the arena also failed to win over groups such as the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO, which claimed the development plan lacked sufficient protections for workers, especially for the privately funded elements of the district.
There had been speculation that arena opponents in Virginia’s Democratic-controlled legislature might consider passing the plan in exchange for Youngkin’s support for other measures, such as additional funding for the Metrorail system in northern Virginia. Ultimately, negotiators in both the state Senate and House dropped language establishing bond-issuing authority for the district from the state’s two-year, $188 billion budget, which passed before adjournment on March 9.
Virginia law gives Youngkin options to revive the plan, either by seeking an amendment to restore bonding authority to the current budget, which would be considered in an April legislative session. He could also call an extraordinary session of the legislature solely to reconsider the proposal.
