All eyes are on the D.C. Council ahead of a major vote on the $3.7 billion RFK Campus Redvelopment Deal, which is only days away.
Before lawmakers put pen to paper, some residents near the stadium hope to make one last Hail Mary to the team.
“I mean, football is great, it puts us on the map, but the local folks have to benefit,” Brian Silver, a resident in the Kingman Park neighborhood, told 7News’ Lianna Golden during a community get-together.
He and other neighbors made a last-ditch effort to hold onto their haven: the wide-open green space on the Oklahoma Avenue lawn. The current plan, if the deal goes through, is to build a 2,500-space parking garage right next to the lawn, which residents feel will tower over the community.
“Building a parking garage here would be criminal,” Silver added. “I look around, and I see green space. The current plans are to have huge parking garages between homes here, and that’s just not good for the community.”
The community wrote postcards to the Commanders, asking them to consider expanding the community benefits deal to include better job opportunities, housing, sustainability, and to move the parking garage.
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“I mean, there are a few football games a year, maybe a few more events, but what about the neighborhood? What about the environment?” Silver said.
During the first vote on August 1, councilmembers said they had negotiated an additional $779 million investment in the District through tax revenue, something certain members vowed to hold the team accountable for.
“To the Commanders’ organization, D.C. is not a tax break or photo opportunity. If you want to be a part of our city, prove it,” Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George said. “Hire our people. Build the affordable housing you promised. Support our small businesses. Show up for our communities, not just on game days but every day.”
It’s demands like those these residents say are necessary to make this a fair deal.
“I think a lot of the councilmembers who have been very keyed on RFK are going to introduce amendments that hopefully will pass to codify some of those benefits for the community,” Alexis Pazmino, a member of the RFK Future Task Force, told Golden. “The Commanders talk about this as a spiritual home for them, but this is our actual home.”
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The second vote is slated for Wednesday, September 17.
If it goes through, groundbreaking could start at the old RFK site by Spring 2026.
The Commanders could be kicking off by 2030.