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More strong claims made against Washington only to again be premature.
From Transit Ridership & Funding, to retail/restaurants opening/closings, development, population growth, many people just had very terrible takes. We can add Monumental relocation to the long list of cynicism of the state of Washington (DC).
Im actually interested in what the $500MM Monumental will receive from DC will be used on.
Great to see. Not a complete shocker a downtown arena just makes too much sense. It can seem a little silly. But it was arguably productive in that it did focus minds on addressing some of the quality of life issues in the area. The deal does include more money than initially offered ($515mil) and a commitment for more police in the area. Gallery Place still remains in bad shape. Hopefully with the teams (almost certainly) staying this will help give resteraunts confidence to commit to leasing vacant spaces.
And, just like that, the teams are staying downtown. And, it seems a Wizards practice facility will be built downtown somewhere too, now? What are the chances that the Mystics will be moving downtown in the new practice Wizards facility but with more seating than the one in SE DC?
I do get the impression that this was a high stakes negotiation after all. And, Monumental would have/should have known the chances of legislation being passed in VA before announcing a deal in VA?
With the teams staying at the arena downtown, it'll be like Madison Square Garden instead of the DC teams moving around from jurisdiction to jurisdiction every 20 years. The teams would be in the same building for 53 years at the end of the newly proposed lease term.
Last edited by revitalizer; 03-27-2024 at 08:41 PM..
Monumental opposes a proposal to package a casino and arena out in Tyson’s. Doesn’t look like many were interested in the proposal but it seems like proximity to DC is appealing to Monumental.
Maryland doesn’t seem interested. Virginia Democrats effectively killed the Government handouts to Monumental and will probably remain that way so long as the GOP has power. DC is stating Monumental must remain until 2047 which must mean their agreement has some bite to it.
Monumental, really, should’ve played nice with Washington until, you know… they had firm commitments from VA. I’m sure Washington will still give subsidies but. They didn’t do themselves any good will amongst any of the 3 jurisdictions.
I would be interested to see an 3rd party legal opinion on this. As I understand it, this comes down to the language in the lease agreement that appears to allow Monumental to pay off the debt early and exist the lease without the 20 year extension to 2047. The AG appears to say those provisions exceeded the District legislation and are therefore unenforceable?
I don't know enough about the law to form an educated opinion on the legal case. But, I do have some skeptisms toward the AG's letter.
1) The AG is an elected official and the first 2/3rds of the letter talk about the benefits of having the teams in the district and only the last 1/3 addresses the legal argument/
2) this was released a couple months after the fact, that may indicated this view was not immediately obvious and required some creative lawyering.
3) Monumental has very well resourced attorneys, it seems they would understand the terms of the lease. It maybe what Ted says goes, but it seems unlikely Monumental would undertake all of this proposed move without legal uncertainty.
I have long been skeptical that this move would actually happen and the problems in the State House have increased the odds they stay in the District. But, a NoVa arena isn't completely dead. Right now it is one (powerful) Chairwoman who is blocking the deal. It is not inconceivable a deal is worked out and VA's legislature approves this or a modified version. I still think VA's actions are more important that this lease agreement legal dispute.
What are the chances that the Mystics will be moving downtown in the new practice Wizards facility but with more seating than the one in SE DC?
Monumental also gets more? complete? control over the St. Elizabeth's/SE ESA, so it doesn't look like the Mystics will be moving.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthAmerica_US
Im actually interested in what the $500MM Monumental will receive from DC will be used on.
Leonsis says (via Tom Sherwood) there are few strings attached to the funding, but there's long been a list of unspecified "upgrades" to Cap One Arena that were to cost about that much money.
That all he got from that stunt was an extra $15M, aka 3%, has me giggling.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jpdivola
But it was arguably productive in that it did focus minds on addressing some of the quality of life issues in the area.
Leonsis does mention several other vague promises made by DC government towards quality of life improvements -- creating some kind of "entertainment district" to limit vending and loitering, removing Daikaya's outdoor dining area, moving the X2 bus stop to make transit connections worse. And I guess threatening to leave did focus the mayor's attention on some of that.
There are some interesting parallels between Gallery Place and Union Station: both are keystone properties for DC, both have very complicated ownership structures owing to their mixed uses, both have mostly empty offices above half-empty retail, and both are in receivership (i.e., foreclosure). I'm surprised that DC hasn't done what Amtrak has done and tried eminent domain; Gallery Place sits within a TIF, aka an urban renewal district.
More related news came out today regarding MRP Realty buying the Gallery Place development (not including the residential portion) next door to the arena and making space for Monumental to realize its vision of a interconnected sports and entertainment complex, including possibly the new Wizards practice facility as well.
It also came out that the VA Governor knew that the DC Mayor and Leonsis met regularly (almost weekly) even after the deal to move the teams to VA was announced. Hmmm.
From MSE:
- "In addition, D.C. will provide an additional $15 million towards improvements of the alley connecting Gallery Place to Capital One Arena."
- "The Mystics and Go-Go will continue to play in the [ESA] arena but we are now allowed to designate 4 games per season and all playoff games, should we so desire, to play at Capital One Arena"
- "Taking control of Entertainment & Sports Arena management to maximize player space and practice courts"
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