https://wamu.org/story/23/07/28/d-c-s-new-police-chief-pamela-smith-on-what-can-be-done-to-reduce-violent-crime-in-the-district/
Yesterday's show is a good listen. Phil Mendelson repeatedly says the city doesn't have the money to finance a new stadium. From the transcript.
NNAMDI
Well, Mayor Bowser will be calling in on this broadcast a little later. She's been a very vocal advocate for bringing the team back to the District. So where do you and the mayor agree and where do you disagree?
MENDELSON
Well, the mayor has not been completely transparent with regard to her intentions. I have no idea if she's had discussions with the current owners or the previous owners about the city financing the stadium. If she wants the city to finance then we would disagree. I would hope she wouldn't be of a view that it's okay that the sexual harassment investigation be covered up. If that is her view, then we would disagree in that regard. And then there could be details with regard to the development, the mixed use development, how much housing if any. I don't know. I think based on what she said a year ago, she wants to see housing and commercial if it supports the housing. And we don't disagree there.
BASKIN
I believe what the mayor has last said about this and I'll let her speak for herself today when we talk to her, but she said that she was interested in proposing something similar to what we did with Audi Field, which was I think the District spent like $150 million on Audi Field to help make that happen. So it sounds like you would say, "Absolutely not."
MENDELSON
I think that would be a mistake. Tell me or ask her how are we going to pay for this? The budget that she submitted maxed out, maxed out our capital budget. There's no room for any more borrowing so what schools are we not going to construct, what playgrounds are we going to take off of the capital improvement list? Are we not going to do the K Street transit way? She pleaded. She begged. She insisted that that money be there. So she's going to give up on the K Street transit way, which Metro has said is important. Or public housing, are we going to cut public housing?
Mayor Bowser got cornered here
NNAMDI
Mayor Bowser, over the last 24 hours you've made it pretty clear that you believe the RFK stadium legislation introduced in the House by Republican James Comer is, well, a touchdown. Why?
BOWSER
Well, it's a bipartisan piece of legislation that extends the District's ability to be able to invest in 190 acres in the heart of Washington, D.C. It's something we've been working on for the better part of my tenure as mayor, and we hope that the congress will move expeditiously to get it done.
NNAMDI
There does seem to be broad local support for this bill, but not necessarily for a new football stadium. We've been talking with Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who is not necessarily supportive of a football team returning here, especially if the city has to pay to build a stadium. But, please you, make the case for why the Washington Commanders should return to the District.
BOWSER
Well, I think you've heard me say before that there's really only one logical place for the team, but I want to make it clear that this legislation is bigger than football. It's about how the District can control its own destiny with 190 acres. Extending the lease, removing restrictions for how the land could be used. The status quo is that we can only use the land for recreational or sports uses. When this bill passes, we will be able to deliver on many, many things that the District needs. So it really breaks open a lot of opportunity for us.
NNAMDI
As I said, our guest analyst today is Morgan Baskin. Morgan covers housing and development for WAMU. And put on your development hat, Morgan, and as the mayor some questions about this.
BASKIN
Well, Mayor Bowser, you've not been shy about the budget environment that we're in right now being poor. The CFO came out a couple of months ago and pointed out that we're facing a $500 million shortfall over the next couple of years. How much should D.C. be spending to help pitch in to build the stadium here? What's your line?
BOWSER
Well, I think that we need to look at all kinds of models of how we get things done. In big cities we have to do a lot of things all at once. We have to make economic development investments. That's how we get more businesses and more residents and more tax revenue. And we also have to invest in the programs that work for our people. So we've managed to do that over the course of not too long, where we have seen two new stadiums come to the District at Nats Park and at Audi Field. Those representative a couple of models.
BOWSER
I think you know that I put together a sports team within D.C. government, within DMPED, our D.C. sports team. And they are going to commission a study that will allow us to look at all of our assets, all of our teams and all of our needs and prioritize them and make some recommendations about how we get there.
NNAMDI
There's thought that this bill stems from conversations your (sounds like) Representative Comer had earlier this year that took place before a congressional hearing about public safety. Is that correct? And, if so, how did those conversations take place and lead to this bill?
BOWSER
Well, I simply, both during the hearing and before the hearing, expressed to Representative -- and I'm not going to be specific about my conversations with members of congress, but let's just say we found common ground on how to advance an underutilized parcel and allow the District to make the necessary investments in that parcel.
NNAMDI
Why don't you want to be specific?
BOWSER
Well, I'm never specific with private conversations with members, including members of the council.
NNAMDI
It's been reported that you spoke also with owner Josh Harris shortly after the sale went through. What did you two discuss? What did he tell you about potentially bringing the team back to the District? And don't say it was a private conversation.
BOWSER
Well, it was private but I can share that this was a hello meeting, a greetings meeting. And for us it was, welcome to D.C., and thank you meeting for really changing the trajectory of our football team. And many of us had been concerned about the direction that it's been going. And we are happy that it's getting a fresh start.
BASKIN
Mayor Bowser, a new report came out this week from the DowntownDC BID that showed that there were close to 20 office-to-residential conversion projects that've stalled over the last year because of bad market conditions. I know that you've made the revitalization of downtown a big priority. And so, how do you stack up ongoing efforts like that with the desire to redevelop a partial of land at large (sounds like) the RFK site?
BOWSER
Well, we're going to redevelop RFK no matter what, whether there's a football stadium or not. And I think given some of the needs and challenges of the city, we would be derelict if we didn't capture 190 acres. And like many large parcel developments, they don't happen in one year or two years. They happen over the course of many years.
BOWSER
We were just at Walter Reed, and Kojo probably knows this well. This project has been ongoing for 15 years but just last week Delegate Norton and I were there to cut the ribbon on a Whole Foods and really deliver on the promises that we have made. So we have to celebrate the start of where we are but nothing would happen if we did not control the land.
BOWSER
And I will say that largely, the development community and the property owner community in downtown or whatever ward celebrate making investments in economic growth opportunities in investing in raising the spirit and the investment climate in the city. And many of them look to sport as a way to do that.
NNAMDI
And the reason she knows I would know this well is because she knows that I live in the area where the parks at Walter Reed is. Because when she was the ward 4 council member, she was always knocking on my door (laugh) . Here is Shirley in Washington, D.C. Shirley, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.
SHIRLEY
Yes, good afternoon, Kojo and Mayor Bowser. Thanks for taking my call. I'm a long term District resident, as is my husband. And I just wanted to -- I appreciate the possibility for flexibility on this 190-acre site. But a couple of things really bother us and that is the prioritization. Yes, it would be lovely to have the RFK site if it was no cost to the District. These investors just spent $6 billion for a team that had a losing record. Yes, there's a promise but the fact of the matter is, money is not their issue, not like it is for the individual residents of the District.
SHIRLEY
So, if we're going to invest, I think, and you could look at, from my point of view, years ago (unintelligible) ...
NNAMDI
(overlapping) Okay. You've got to come to a question quickly because we don't have a great deal of time.
SHIRLEY
All right. The priorities and also could you talk about the return on investment? It seems like Potomac Yards in Alexandria, which one time was considered the spot for the stadium, is thriving with retail and housing and other services.
NNAMDI
Well, let's get the mayor to talk about...
SHIRLEY
Isn't that more profitable?
NNAMDI
Go ahead, please, Mayor Bowser.
BOWSER
I'm not sure, in the end, if I got the question but let me assure Shirley and every taxpayer that the reason why we're commissioning a study is so that we know what all the possibilities are, and all of the ones that will be a benefit to the District. And we will only advance recommendations that are a benefit to the District. The bottom line is we're going to have a great development at RFK, whether there's a stadium there or not. But my experience suggests that having an anchor helps get a project along the way.
BOWSER
And she is very right to point out that we're talking about a very valuable team. And we're talking about an ownership group that is very successful and knows how to make projects happen. So, in no way would we advance a proposal where they weren't very actively involved in building their stadium. So, I don't want anybody to suggest that Muriel Bowser has ever said that D.C. taxpayers should build the stadium.
