Greater Greater Washington discusses DC United's wish for a new stadium. Two sites are currently under consideration:
1. Buzzard Point (a vacant parking lot)
2. The Florida Market, AKA the Capital City Market (the District's only wholesale food district).
42 comments:
I hope they put the stadium in Baltimore.
That would be awesome. The neighborhood would have something close to enjoy and we would not have to deal with the traffic and trash nightmare that is the market/garage sale.
Yes! Because building the stadium in Baltimore would do wonders in improving employment opportunities and tax revenue in DC.not to mention all the community support DC united provides all over the city. Let send that right over to Maryland since we don't need those things at all in our city.fool
It would be incredible to see DC United make their home in the Florida Market area, I just don't see how the team and the city could possibly come up with the $$ to make it happen.
This came out in the Post over last weekend; surprised it took so long to show up here, given the discussions here on the Market in the past.
I don't know that either site is likely; but all other things being equal, the Buzzard's Point site is far more likely than the Market site. In fact, I think the Market showing up in these discussions is really only interesting in that it shows how *stalled* all the earlier redevelopment plans for the Market (such as New Town) seem to be.
I think its kinda silly to build an entirely new stadium in a new location and just let RFK rot from lack of use.
You already have a good stadium site at RFK. Why not demolish RFK and build a new stadium in its place. You've already got the land.
Building in Florida market is going to require purchasing land from multiple land owners, rezoning, more regulatory tape, etc. etc.
Bad idea.
jj writes: "You already have a good stadium site at RFK. Why not demolish RFK and build a new stadium in its place. You've already got the land."
As explained in the link in inked's original post, that's not an option, because you *don't* already have the land. RFK stadium and its parking lots are on Federal land, not DC land. D.C. leases the land to operate RFK on it, and part of the terms of the lease is that once RFK is demolished, it reverts to Federal control, for the Feds to do whatever they want with it.
Hey Tim-
I'm already helping pay for FedEx Field and Nats Stadium with my taxes. I have no interest in doing the same for a soccer team that won't generate squat in comparison
anonymous, you pay taxes in DC and in Maryland? You need a better accountant. Also note that FedEx was predominantly paid for with private monies, unlike Nats Park.
Also, there are two questions that are being conflated: whether the market or Buzzards Point is a good/adequate/feasible site for a soccer stadium, and whether the city should contribute anything to it (subsidizing directly, providing loan guarantees, paying infrastructure costs, etc.). They may be related, but they are different questions, fundamentally.
The article states that J Street approached the team about a stadium at the market site - presumably, they have something in mind to address the acquisition issues.
anonymous 3:45 - but since you read the article and the comments (surely you wouldn't post an indignant reply without actually reading what you're replying to, right?), you know that spending tax dollars on building a stadium isn't on the table, so it doesn't matter.
The shaded map on GGW is way bigger than a soccer stadium would need to be (~400x600ft) You could actually cram it into the market without displacing many of the current tenants.
There are also other places in DC where you could wedge a soccer stadium -- my favorite among them would be to put it on top of the 395 stub leading to Barney Circle. You'd displace precisely zero residents and businesses.
I'd take the current crowd at the FLA market over soccer fans any day
andrew - isn't that Federal land?
I'd be happier if they spiffed up the FL Market. Someone earlier was dead on when they said it looks like a garage sale. Not classy. I'm also not impressed with the transvestite prostitutes that ride their bicycles through there at night. A stadium would be much better.
Interesting, but I would be SUPER surprised if this actually came anywhere close to happening.
The Florida market, despite its problems, is at least a functioning center of economic activity in DC.
yeah, those trannie/prostitutes know their territory well. they NEVER get stuck in the large grooves that divide the huge cement blocks that they used to pave the entire market. earlier this week, i almost got into a three car pileup because of some dude that got stuck on his bike in the gigantic grooves. he slowed down, the traffic behind him didn't. There are a variety of intersections in that joint, not one with a stop sign or a light.
too bad it's only idiots that perambulate the place. a smart person could sue the hell out of that place if they got hurt.
the market used to be where the archives bldg sits now. they saw that the space was vital for a federal institution, and moved the market to its present location.
economics folks. they can move a bit north or east and still have a flourishing market. that space is needed for other activity at this point in history.
just as NOMA is no longer viable for parking, the market needs to relocate to allow for SERIOUS economic development. i mean seriously, do you people think the market is solely responsible for the ingredients to washington's restaurants? nope. there are more hyattsville MD "restaurants" that buy from there than dc places. i'm tired of my city serving as a crappy middleman for the suburbs. i say GO AWAY MARKET. relocate to somewhere else - closer to your real market.
sorry elise and other granola folk, the market is being discussed all over the place because it's WAY behind the times, and needs to change.
drastically.
everyone knows it, including this 25 year veteran of dc.
just ask the locals......
the REAL locals.
Yeah, the market is probably ultimately doomed. Any discontinuation of operation there would probably just lead the current businesses to relocate even if they were give preference to come back. The market people might just was well agree to this offer. I would think the stadium complicates matters, which might make it take longer to come to fruition and might increase the chance of failure. This might allow the market to operate longer and potentially even longer than expected if, in 3 years, the stadium plans go to shit and new plans and partners need to be found.
Can Litteri's just move to H St
I'm pulling for a stadium at Buzzard Point. I'm a season tic holder, I do not want the city paying for this stadium, I want owner Will Chang to find some additional investors and pay for this thing.
DC United is a great tradition here in DC, I live here, many of the players actually live in the District, and now we are cultivating our own local players who are going on to play for DCU.
@many of you are stupid:
earlier this week, i almost got into a three car pileup because of some dude that got stuck on his bike in the gigantic grooves. he slowed down, the traffic behind him didn't.
God, drivers are fucking imbeciles.
Will Chang and Kevin Payne have on many occasions said that the team would pay for all or the vast majority of the stadium. What they want from the city is the ability to build retail and condos/apartments next to the stadium. Their model is a mixed use zone. If it went through, this would be a major in flux of jobs and money.
United's stadium is the absolute opposite model of the Nats, who took $630 million from the tax payers, had the gall to not pay their rent, and on top of all of that put a putrid team on the field.
Who would live in the same complex as a stadium? Seems like there would be a lot of noise during games and other events.
This would be great for the neighborhood if DC United would build a new stadium here. There's plenty of room for it to coexist with the market as well as other mixed-use development.
Most of the current market buildings are single story, and there is tons of vacant land around. The entire area could, and should, be more dense. J Street and Gallaudet are eventually going to develop their parcels, and it will NOT be to just expand the wholesale operations, but they will be mixed-use development. Pretending (or hoping) that the market will stay, but just add a paint job or two, is pointless.
Hate the FL market. I'm sure if police officers went down there Sunday mornings to look at the merchandise, they would recover lots of stolen stuff.
I vote Buzzards or RFK (the obvious choice). Leave the Market alone! I love the Market and Friends in the Marketplace/Funky Flea Market during good weather months.
Up w/ gentry, the FLA market hates you! Go shop in Crystal City where you can buy your crap among all the other white people sealed inside a hermetic bubble. All those discount bars of soap, used books and records, off-brand phone chargers still in the packaging, homemade jewelry, work coveralls -- gotta be stolen! After all, it's minorities selling it, they MUST be criminals!
The cops do go into the market, but usually just to get their weekly payoff from the syndicates slinging discount cigarettes. Another thing you probably already knew since you are SOOOO involved in the community and its needs!
A stadium is not FOR the community. It is for people who go to soccer games and people who own soccer stadiums. But it's telling that a bunch of yuppies from Arlington means "community" to the homeowners more than the people who live and work here (which includes the trannies, they gotta eat too, and they were here before your property-speculating carpetbagging self).
Just wondering how long are you planning on sitting on your 800 sq. ft gold mine before cashing out and moving back to whatever suburb you came from? Or maybe buying a McMansion out in county after your kids get old enough to risk going to school with "others"? I think the community would be better off without all these racists who think a mortgage gives them the right to come down on the people who have it hardest in our city.
nikkio: I guess you couldn't be bothered with reading the article or the comments (here or there) to see why "RFK (the obvious choice)" isn't available as an option.
Who would live in the same complex as a stadium? Seems like there would be a lot of noise during games and other events.
You make an excellent point.
Anon 3:52:
Aren't peop,e silly, if not stupid? Your honorary badge for that club is in the mail.
Oh, and go back to get your GED. Pls.
Thanks in advance!
Anon 3:52:
Aren't peop,e silly, if not stupid? Your honorary badge for that club is in the mail.
Oh, and go back to get your GED. Pls.
Oh, and crane musical instrument person, oboe, pls go to YouTube or any channel that bows to real estate and construction. There are plenty of windows ( and paints!!) that totally quash extrinsic noises. Pls don't be daft.
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
In honor of this thread I'm breaking into the 10 most gentrified cars in the neighborhood tonight. Love ya, neighbors!
"look! they outed themselves!" -- oboe's point apparently whooshed right over your head. Maybe if you'd clicked on the links in oboe's post.
Dear Anon 3:52,
You seem to be laboring under a few misconceptions.
A) I was born in DC (not that that matters - everyone who lives here is apart of the community, whether for 2 years or 20, mortgage or not)
B) I am not White (In fact, I am Black, but that doesnt matter either)
C)People other than Whites like nice things too. Surprisingly, some Blacks also like clean and safe streets and good schools.
D) I never said it all was stolen, I just have a hard time believing some of the electronics arent stolen. And I dont think we should allow people to profit from stolen goods - weird thought right?
E) You know who goes to soccer games? LOTS of Hispanics and Blacks in addition to Whites. And you know who would likely benefit from employment opportunities at a stadium in our neighborhood? Answer: "the people who have it hardest in our city" - trannies and all. Maybe they could get a job where they wouldnt have to lower themselves to prostitution. Do something that allows them to afford food and shelter while giving them dignity rather than shame.
Please expand your mind beyond what seems to be a very narrow scope before you spout off about things you obviously have no knowledge of. Have a blessed day.
"I never said they were stolen, I just said we should assume they were stolen because I'm a terrible human being who judges people I know nothing about. I just have a hard time believing people at flea markets aren't horrible wastes of humanity -- perhaps we could find a good reason to put them in prison, or at the very least subject them to police harassment? Plus I'm black so I can freely hate on poor people, who will probably make so much money picking up yuppie stadium garbage that soon they can own an overpriced row house mortgage too! Have blessed day and don't forget to scorn the poor -- they hate nice things which is why they have such hard lives. Have a blessed day, I'm sure Jesus would agree with my statements on the poor, as well as my judgments of prostitutes (who work that way because of choice, and a tragic lack of soccer stadiums)."
These crackheads and hookers and chicken wings you all complain about are the only reason you could afford a mortgage this close to downtown and pretend to be bourgeois. Show some respect!
And here I thought Poo was the only one with impersonators.
You're absolutely right, we should all aspire to stay poor and halt progress just to spite another group of people. This is why we are never going to get anywhere. LOL... people are so lame. I'm done with this.
The problem is people keep doing things that make Up With Gentry assume they are criminals and demand police action. Why don't they like nice things like $20 mexican entrees ad $12 cocktails and $50 soccer tickets? It would be so less confusing. I guess some people weren't raised right. They deserve to be poor.
you all are spewing forth sound and fury, reminding your wives that they made grievous, grievous errors in not choosing to be burned with their prior husbands.
I do not have a stadium to displace your market. I simply have a member that can prolapse your ani.
tubbs, the shrink has recommendations for intensive therapy based on your obvious obsession with the male member... How about starting with 3 days a week to work on your daddy issues?
Keep the market.
I bought a pizza stone there for 8 dollars. You can't get them anywhere else for less than 20 dollars.
I constantly buy lbs and lbs of fresh vegetables there - for less than 9 bucks. It constantly astonishes me.
The naysayers can keep going to the fancy stores and pay exorbitant overhead.
I like the market - with all its quirks. It sort of makes me think of what the meat packing district looked like years ago.
"These crackheads and hookers and chicken wings you all complain about are the only reason you could afford a mortgage this close to downtown and pretend to be bourgeois."
Oh man, that made me laugh so hard. I'm gonna steal that line.
Have a blessed day, I'm sure Jesus would agree with my statements on the poor, as well as my judgments of prostitutes...
Yes, because was it not Jesus who said that "the violent crackheads and practicing prostitutes will inherit the Earth?" If Jesus were alive today, there's no question he'd be squatting and taking a dump on H Street and car-jacking parents as they try to get their infants buckled into car seats.
"I'm already helping pay for FedEx Field and Nats Stadium with my taxes."
Unless you are a business owner with something like over $5 million in annual receipts you aren't paying anything for Nationals Park.
The entireity of the debt payment is being met by the special tax assessed on very large businesses in DC.
Nearly every one of those businesses is a lobbying firm or such.
In a way, it's a bit of a commuter tax, as very few DC residents actually regularly use the services of a lobbying or law firm of this size and scope.
Incidentally, the special tax is actually contributing something above $20 million per year above and beyond the debt servicing.
That $20 million goes directly into the general revenue fund.
So it's actually generating tax revenue, not costing it.
And of course you can argue that at least some portion of the development in that area (and the massive real estate and income taxes associated with that)are due to the stadium.
Plus the tax on each ticket, on each hotdog, on each overpriced drink, etc.
Those add up.
And the city would have never had the political will to tear down the stunningly bad public housing in the area had they not had a stadium to build.
And the drain on the public coffers for those complexes was easily in the millions of dollars per year.
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