The Washington Commanders unveiled adjusted plans for a new RFK Stadium on Wednesday after Tuesday’s marathon hearing featured plenty of concerns from skeptical residents in nearby Kingman Park.
Mark Clouse, the team’s president, said the franchise would be responsible for any cost overruns encountered during the construction of the $3.7 billion stadium. Critics of the deal worried that the city’s planned $1.1 billion investment would balloon throughout the process.
The team also committed to keeping the popular Fields at RFK open during the five-year construction process and building the stadium at a “platinum standard” for environmental impact.
“From the beginning, we have said this is about more than football. It’s about more than just building a stadium,” Mr. Clouse told the D.C. Council during Wednesday’s hearing. “Our $2.7 billion investment — the largest private investment in the history of the District — will revitalize a long-neglected site and deliver lasting public value.”
Residents and Ward 6 Councilman Charles Allen had lobbied for a new Metro station instead of a trio of planned parking garages. The Commanders committed to ensuring that the new garages would not block a proposed new station on Oklahoma Avenue, near the stadium site.
He also noted that the franchise would pause the construction of a third parking garage. Local residents worry the above-ground structures could block the community from the Anacostia River waterfront.
The franchise had planned for three parking garages that would provide 8,000 spots for the 65,000-seat stadium.
The team noted that it would reconsider the need for the third garage during the construction process.
“We heard the community’s concerns,” Mr. Clouse wrote in a letter to the D.C. Council.
The letter attached plans for a community benefit fund. The franchise will allot $30 million for a youth sports academy, $3 million for grocery subsidies in Ward 7, $7 million in local business subsidies, $5 million in workforce development programs and $2 million for community events and tickets.
A remaining $3 million would be invested in initiatives picked by the D.C. Council.
“This is about more than nostalgia,” Mr. Clouse said. “It’s about civic identity, community pride and restoring a historic connection between the team and the city it calls home.”
After two days of hearings, the D.C. Council will reconvene Friday to vote on the stadium legislation. It’s widely expected to pass.
If the proposal passes, it would face a 30-day congressional review based on the city’s Home Rule Act.
A final vote would likely follow in September.
In a timeline presented in April, the Commanders said they want to break ground on the stadium in 2026, with an opening set for 2030. Piecemeal demolition is ongoing to dismantle the old, rusting stadium on the site.
