What’s next for Potomac Yard now that Alexandria’s arena deal fell through?
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (DC News Now) — With the hope of a “Monumental Move” now out of the picture, Alexandria is pivoting to figure out what to do with the acres of land that would have been home to the Washington Capitals and Wizards.
“The City of Alexandria will no longer be considering the current proposal and will instead turn our focus to other efforts to bring quality commercial opportunities to the community in the future to both diversify our tax base and protect our quality of life,” Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson said in a video statement released Wednesday.
While not detailing specifics, Alexandria Economic Development Partnership President and CEO, Stephanie Landrum, confirmed to DC News Now that the city is in talks with other entities about future developments.
However, there are some challenges.
Landrum said because of a “difficult” market and the changing market for office buildings, the city has attempted to attract three groups of commercial use to the area: medical, higher education and entertainment/culture. She continued that the medical and higher education is already well-represented in the market, including Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus which is under construction.
“It really does take us back to looking for some uses that people still travel to and gather at,” she said.
Whatever is to come next at the space between the Potomac Yard Metro Station and the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus will certainly be much smaller than the “Monumental Move” would have been. Landrum said that’s a challenge.
She said a recent lease agreement indicated the shopping center across the street, centered around a popular Target, could have been a part of the development if the arena deal had gone forward. However, without the deal, the center is likely unavailable to the city for the next 20 years.
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“Instead of the full 70 acres, it’s more like 12 acres,” Landrum said of the available space.
Those 12 acres, owned by JGB Smith, would have been acquired by a Virginia Stadium Authority if it was created. Landrum said she is “optimistic” the city can work with JGB Smith to figure out what to do.
“The scale of what we can do is going to be much, much smaller,” she said.
Andrew Macdonald, who spearheaded the arena opposition group Coalition to Stop the Arena at Potomac Yard, told DC News Now he hopes the city learned lessons from the arena deal.
“We have to talk about all of it,” he said. “In an open and transparent way.”
“I think they need to bring these ideas to the community and have a real discussion before having these glitzy announcements and saying, ‘we’ve got this great deal,'” Macdonald continued.
Michelle Kamalich, who lives in Del Ray, said she would support an art center. A similar concert venue was a part of the largest entertainment district proposed by Monumental Sports and Entertainment.
“Something entertainment-wise would be a benefit to this area, just not something that’s going to increase the traffic dramatically,” she said.
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One thing Landrum said will not be coming to Potomac Yard: the next home of the Washington Commanders. She said while those conversations have occurred, though not anytime recently, she does not believe it’s a good fit for the region and therefore “officially passed on behalf of the city.”
“I can say very, very confidently that there would not be support for a larger sports facility on this site given the conversations that I’ve had over the last three months,” she said.
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