‘Big, bold investments’: Why DC’s mayor says now’s the time to invest in Commanders stadiu
April 28, 2025
‘Big, bold investments’: Why DC’s mayor says to invest now in Commanders stadium
“If you need to add revenue, as we do, you can’t leave 180 acres vacant. If you need to add jobs, as we do, you cannot wait for an anchor to show up to start developing there. When you need to attract business, you have to be about business,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said
As D.C. plans to spend more than $1 billion on a stadium that will bring the Commanders back and transform part of the city, some residents are asking: Is now the right time?
Amid federal job cuts and expected drops in tax revenue, News4 asked Mayor Muriel Bowser at a news conference Monday why she believes the spending serves D.C. residents.
WATCH HEREFirst, Bowser drew a distinction between Congress’ forced budget cut to D.C. in 2025 and what is to come. D.C. will make some “big, bold investments in growth,” she said, calling for “a catalytic investment at RFK.”
“If you need to add revenue, as we do, you can’t leave 180 acres vacant. If you need to add jobs, as we do, you cannot wait for an anchor to show up to start developing there. When you need to attract business, you have to be about business,” she said to cheers.
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The mayor again called on Congress to fix the $1 billion hole it left in D.C.’s budget.
“The Congress still has to fix FY25,” she said. “[…] I call it a fake budget crisis, because we have the money. If we have to cut services because they don’t fix their snafu, then that’s a problem, but, you know, we’re gonna keep pushing it. Because, no matter what happens with FY25, FY26 is coming. And so, we’re going to have at the end of FY30 – or the beginning of FY30 – a new stadium.”
News4 asked Commanders owner Josh Harris whether the project has the support it needs from the D.C. Council in order to advance. He said he looks forward to continuing to speak with council members and giving them the information they need.
“I think the project will stand, and I believe we’ll convince the council this is in the best interest of D.C.,” he said.
DC Council chair: ‘I continue to be concerned with investing any public money into a stadium’
D.C. and the Commanders need approval by the D.C. Council to advance plans for the stadium.
Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said he’s concerned about investing public funds in the project and was not consulted. He said in a statement:
“The cost to the District will be nearly $1 billion – and that does not include investments in Metro and the surrounding park land site – and I continue to be concerned with investing any public money into a stadium while we have constrained budgets and revenues, and unmet needs.
“It is unheard of to set a deadline for the Council. We were not consulted about this negotiation; it was not even brought up when I was briefed on April 16th. Indeed, other than that one briefing – which was for me, not the Council – there has been no collaboration with the Council. The Mayor needs to focus on getting a budget – she’s on track to miss that deadline by over seven weeks! And adopting a budget, with cuts totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, should be our highest priority.”
The timeline for the project calls for the council to approve it this summer.
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