Goal or Rim Shot?
Monumental's new arena would go in the red area. JBG Smith would develop the blue areas with other mixed uses.
JBG SMITH
Governor Younkin’s proposal to relocate the teams now playing in DC’s Capital One Arena to a new arena in Potomac Yards raises many thoughts and questions.
Virginia has a history of not participating in “pay to play” deals. The agreement to bring Amazon HQ2 to Arlington, for example, did not include the large tax breaks and other benefits that characterized proposals from other communities. However, as reported in the local press, the Governor’s arena proposal provides for a record-breaking amount of taxpayer-funded assistance to the new arena.
The Washington Post reported that the Governor insists that funding will come from increased taxes that would not have been realized were it not for the arena. This is a common economic development strategy known as Tax Increment Financing (TIF). The City of Alexandria established both TIF and special assessment districts to finance construction of the Potomac Yards Metro Station. Another Northern Virginia TIF is the Mosaic Community Development Authority, the sole TIF authorized by Fairfax County to date, used to finance public improvements to bring about the redevelopment of an industrial area.
In addition to financial questions, there are considerations of traffic, noise, impacts on residential communities, and impacts on the business community. Will the Potomac Yards station, located on a branch line, be sufficient to accommodate the ridership that can now spread over a few central lines? How will drivers be prevented from parking up surrounding streets, and will these measures inconvenience residents and businesses? The proposed arena site is currently planned for mixed-use development; how will replacing it with an arena that is used part-time affect local business patronage?
Part of the proposal is a concert hall to be owned and operated by the City of Alexandria. What is the demand for such a concert hall? Would the city-owned facility compete with existing nonprofit community groups, or would it enhance these groups?
The primary interest of the Old Town North Alliance is, of course, potential impacts on Old Town North. Would there be any direct impacts, or indirect impacts? Certainly, OTN residents, businesses and property owners should be included in the conversation. If you have comments, please visit the Old Town North Alliance website at: https://www.oldtownnorthalliance.com/news , Scroll to the bottom of the page and leave your comment. Thank you!
Public Information, as announced by the City of Alexandria:
Public updates during city Council legislative meetings, every other Tuesday from January 9 to March 26, 2024
Virtual listening sessions on Thursday nights from 7-8 PM; topics include:
Financial proposal and economic impact: January 16
Schools, housing, other community benefits: January 25
Transportation and traffic management: February 1
Small business and economic opportunity: February 8
City Council Town Hall: Saturday, January 27 @ 9:30 AM
Civic and business briefings may be arranged
Pop-up events to be scheduled at local venues such as farmers markets
Site tours will be scheduled
Staff liaisons from the city will be assigned to neighborhoods to facilitate contact and ongoing engagement
For a full list of events and details on how to participate,
Visit MonumentalALX.com