The D.C. Council has voted 9 to 3 to advance the RFK redevelopment project in its first of two votes on a deal that would bring the Commanders back to the District.
The D.C. Council has voted 9 to 3 to advance the RFK redevelopment project in its first of two votes on a deal that would bring the Washington Commanders back to the District.
The $3.7 billion dollar RFK redevelopment project will be put to a final vote in September.
Due to the nature of the deal, which includes tax abatements, a supermajority of the council — or eight council members — were needed to vote ‘yes’ for things to move forward Friday.
Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen has been critical of the bill from the day it was presented, due in part to the more than $1 billion in taxpayer money that would be spent on the development.
But he ultimately sided with the majority to move the deal ahead.
Three council members voted against the deal: At-Large Council member Robert White, Ward 1’s Brianne Nadeau and Ward 3’s Matthew Frumin.
“I have opposed, from the start, the use of taxpayer dollars to support a stadium for a private organization, owned by billionaires, that will make them ‘more than a billion.’ The more the deal is analyzed, the more resolved I am in my position,” Nadeau wrote in an email Thursday.
The deal would bring fulfill a major goal for Mayor Muriel Bowser who has long advocated for the team’s return.
Deal with labor union ahead of 1st vote
Some council members have expressed concerns about details of the proposal and advocated for stronger labor protections.
Before the council voted on the project, leaders of local labor unions came to a deal with the Commanders and threw their support behind the project Friday morning, according to a news release from the unions.
Parker said it will require that 51% of the workers involved in the mixed-use development be District residents.
What led up to the historic vote
The vote on the RFK redevelopment project came after a marathon public hearing Tuesday, during which more than 140 people spoke to the council, some in support of the project, some against it, with others calling for significant changes to the terms of the deal.
A hearing Wednesday was at times heated as Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Commanders made their case for approval directly to the members of the council.
On Thursday At-Large Council member White said that without some significant changes, he believed the council would shoot down the project in Friday’s vote.
“The way that things are looking right now, there will be a lot of amendments tomorrow, and if the bill went up for a vote right now it would not pass,” White told WTOP Thursday.
On Wednesday, Bowser said she believed the votes are there for the deal to proceed.
Bowser said while she believes there are “enough” votes there, she did admit there was still work to do.
“It’s not over until it’s over. And I want to make sure that I’m following up with following up with all the members to make sure we are where we need to be,” Bowser said.
What concerns the council members
Ahead of Friday’s vote, White and other council members expressed concern about the speed of the plan, which was first announced by the mayor in April.
White expressed concerns about residents in Ward 7 being priced out and that was also a concern expressed by other council members, including Ward 4’s Janeese Lewis George.
White presented amendments to the project Friday that were not passed by the council.
Those amendments attempted to address issues such as house stabilization to protect current residents from being priced out of the area and environmental regulations to protect the Anacostia River. He also proposed taxing personal seat licenses, a charge that gives a fan the right to purchase season tickets.
The team told the council the money from those licenses would be matched by the team and go into a stadium fund, which is paying for the construction of the stadium.
What excites the council about RFK redevelopment
Several members of the council have expressed their support for the project, among them Ward 2’s Brooke Pinto, Ward 7’s Wendell Felder and At-Large Council members Anita Bonds and Kenyan McDuffie.
“I’m proud to stand in support of the redevelopment of the RFK site and bring the Washington Commanders back home, where they rightfully belong,” McDuffie said Wednesday.
Bonds called the deal the kind of bold step the city needs.
“Let’s bring the Commanders home and make this a project all Washingtonians can be proud of,” Bonds said Wednesday.
WTOP’s Mike Murillo reported from the Wilson Building.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
Source link
