Called a "Monumental Opportunity" for Alexandria and the Commonwealth of Virginia (and a "Monumental Mistake" by opponents), the proposal to build a professional sports arena in Alexandria's Potomac Yard neighborhood has been canceled, officials have announced.
Negotiations have officially ended between the city of Alexandria, the Commonwealth of Virginia and Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals professional sports teams.
Wednesday afternoon, Monumental Sports owner Ted Leonsis and District officials announced an agreement to keep the two professional sports teams in Washington, D.C.
In December, 2023, Monumental Sports and Entertainment announced plans to build a professional sports arena and plans to move its global headquarters to Potomac Yard, along with building a practice facility on what is now an empty lot. The City of Alexandria planned to build an events venue nearby to host shows, high school graduation and other big events — and along with it, developer JBG Smith proposed retail, residential and more.
The proposal would have transformed the entire northeast corner of the City of Alexandria, potentially bringing with it new tax revenue.
At the time it was announced, some residents quietly wondered if Alexandria was being used to further Leonsis' negotiations with the District of Columbia, which seemed to have collapsed at the time over whether the District would provide enough funding to modernize the sports arena there.
More publicly, thousands of area residents voiced concerns about financial risk, traffic and other concerns, and not all Virginia legislators were on board. After facing a significant hurdle in Virginia's budget process in February, the proposal's prospects started to look bleak.
Blame Game Starts
JBG Smith wrote in a statement released Wednesday evening that there were people who were trying to redirect the arena toward the Tysons area, possibly dangling money in front of key people to make that happen.
"Despite our best efforts, this project was unable to get a fair hearing on its merits with the Virginia Senate. It is now clear that our efforts may have been complicated and ultimately blocked, in part, by special interests seeking to move the Monumental arena to Tysons Corner and to combine it with a casino. The Washington Post and other outlets have reported on this scheme and the hundreds of thousands of dollars, enormous sums in Virginia politics, of political contributions associated with it – a large portion of which were directed to key senate leaders. When one follows the money, the implications are deeply troubling for Virginia and for the future of transparency in economic development pursuits, especially those that seek certainty through the now damaged MEI legislative process," wrote Matt Kelly, CEO of JBG SMITH in a statement to stakeholders.
"To say we are disappointed is an understatement; we are disgusted with the back-room-dealing and opaque scheming that took place as this played out," JBG Smith stated.
Virginia Sen. Scott Surovell, who represents part of the Alexandria area (not including Potomac Yard) placed blamed on Gov. Youngkin. In a statement, Surovell wrote: "This entire process should have been handled differently. The arena proposal failed because the Governor failed to include the stakeholders in state government who would have to deal with the consequences of this decision long after he left office with a photo opp breaking dirt. I hope this is a wake up call for his administration so that Virginia is not left falling behind on economic development opportunities because he is unwilling to work with the legislative majorities voters put in place in November."
Stop the Potomac Yard Arena, a nonprofit organization developed specifically to oppose the arena and lobby Virginia legislators to vote against it, took some credit for the cancelation on social media, writing on Facebook, "It's over! We stopped the arena!!!"
The following is the complete announcement from the City of Alexandria on the decision to end negotiations:
"The City of Alexandria has ended negotiations related to the Potomac Yard Entertainment District opportunity and the proposal will not move forward.
As stewards of the City’s economic health and development, City leaders believed the Potomac Yard Entertainment District opportunity was worthy of community discussion and Council consideration. We negotiated a framework for this opportunity in good faith and participated in the process in Richmond in a way that preserved our integrity. We trusted this process and are disappointed in what occurred between the Governor and General Assembly.
We engaged in substantial community engagement over the past months that informed our negotiations and would have made the proposal even better for our community. That continued conversation would have also allowed us to consider how a project of this scale could support our plans for growth and our community’s future.
Throughout this process, the City has been committed to ensuring that our role in this project not only added financial value but promised that our core values would remain an integral part of this opportunity. The City was adamant that any favorable consideration of the proposal included substantial and thoughtful improvements to the existing transportation system; included affordable housing; protect our stellar AAA bond rating; protect existing and future residents from financial risk; provided substantial future revenue for city and school services; protected existing neighborhoods; and provided quality jobs for our community. We are disappointed negotiations did not result in a proposal that protected our financial interests and respected these community values.
We are resolute in our commitment to ensure the City’s future is determined by our community. We will continue to pursue economic opportunities that improve our quality of life and economic health. Alexandria welcomes commercial investment, and our residents, businesses, and stakeholders deserve the chance to make educated decisions about how we continue to welcome new businesses to our city. We will continue to focus our efforts on bringing quality commercial opportunities to our community in the future."
Gov. Glenn Younkin released the following statement shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday:
"Virginians deserve better. A one-of-a-kind project bringing world-class athletes and entertainment, creating 30,000 jobs and $12 billion in economic activity just went up in smoke. This transformational project would have driven investment to every corner of the Commonwealth. This should have been our deal and our opportunity, all the General Assembly had to do was say: ‘thank you, Monumental, for wanting to come to Virginia and create $12 billion of economic investment, let’s work it out.’ But no, personal and political agendas drove away a deal with no upfront general fund money and no tax increases, that created tens of thousands of new jobs and billions in revenue for Virginia. I’d like to thank Ted Leonsis and the Monumental team, the City of Alexandria, JBG Smith and countless other partners for their professionalism, belief in Virginia and fortitude. Congratulations to Monumental for striking a great deal, I’m sorry you won’t be in Virginia," said Governor Glenn Youngkin.
