{"id":2212207,"date":"2024-04-03T12:35:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T16:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dc-council-approves-515-million-to-transform-capital-one-arena-and-chinatown\/"},"modified":"2024-04-03T12:35:37","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T16:35:37","slug":"dc-council-approves-515-million-to-transform-capital-one-arena-and-chinatown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dc-council-approves-515-million-to-transform-capital-one-arena-and-chinatown\/","title":{"rendered":"DC Council greenlights $515 million for Capital One Arena and Chinatown makeover"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdc-council-approves-515-million-to-transform-capital-one-arena-and-chinatown%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2212207&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The District of\u200c Columbia Council \u200bapproved $515 million to transform \u200bCapital One Arena, aiming to create an entertainment district in Gallery Place and \u2064Chinatown. Although concerns surfaced over Mayor \u2062Muriel Bowser&#8217;s agreement with\u200d Monumental Sports&#8217; CEO Ted Leonsis, discussions on\u200b the \u2063project \u2064took \u2064place before finalizing the city&#8217;s \u200cbudget for fiscal 2025, which included a sales tax increase. Great summary! It succinctly captures the key \u200cpoints about the District of \u2063Columbia Council&#8217;s approval of\u200d funds \u2062for the transformation of\u2064 Capital \u200cOne \u2062Arena \u200dinto an\u200d entertainment district, highlighting concerns around the agreement between Mayor Muriel Bowser and Monumental Sports&#8217; \u200bCEO Ted Leonsis amid budget discussions for fiscal 2025.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>With the hopes of reimagining Gallery Place and Chinatown into an entertainment district, the Council of the District of Columbia approved $515 million in appropriations on Tuesday to help transform Capital One Arena. However, some councilmembers are wary after seeing Mayor <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/muriel-bowser\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Muriel Bowser<\/a>\u2018s provisional agreement with Ted Leonsis, the CEO of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which owns the <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/washington-wizards\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Washington Wizards<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/washington-capitals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Washington Capitals<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The vote on the measure, made without the chance for public comment, came a day before Bowser finalized the city\u2019s fiscal 2025 budget. Balancing the budget was a challenge, with the mayor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcwashington.com\/news\/local\/dc-mayor-reveals-her-2025-budget-with-sales-tax-increase-and-funding-for-metro-public-safety-downtown\/3582571\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>implementing<\/a> a sales tax increase and cutting programs for job training and the early development fund. However, funds for the Capital One Arena\u2019s renovation will come from the district\u2019s capital budget.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are grateful to the Council for passing legislation that builds a true partnership between the District and Monumental Sports to revitalize downtown in an integrated way for our fans and the community,\u201d MSE officials said in a statement. \u201cOur shared vision for a transformational entertainment district that is a destination for neighbors and visitors will ensure the vibrancy of downtown for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some councilmembers worry the mayor conceded too much bargaining power over to Leonsis, whose plans to move the teams to Alexandria, Virginia, fell through.<\/p>\n<p>The 14-page agreement between Bowser and Leonsis includes a measure\u00a0exempting MSE from any future taxes that would benefit another sports franchise. This would include a hypothetical tax that could be levied on businesses to build a new football stadium.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the provisions, such as expediting\u00a0MSE\u2019s application for clean-energy renovation projects, could incur additional costs on top of the $515 million and cut into resources for a city program that subsidizes affordable housing projects.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is a program that has a cap on what is available every year,\u201d Councilman Charles Allen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2024\/04\/02\/dc-council-arena-funds-leonsis-capitals-wizards\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a>. \u201cSo every dollar we now are sending to Monumental for the arena is a dollar we\u2019re not investing in affordable housing somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The agreement also addresses Leonsis\u2019s concern for public safety around the arena. In order to ease the owner\u2019s worries, D.C. would create a public safety plan before events and dedicate 17 officers for patrol two hours before and after events. While new police staffing expectations are in line with Nationals Park, Councilman Zachary Parker wonders how it will affect an already strained police force.<\/p>\n<p>The provisions leave councilmembers worrying if the city would see a worthy return on its investment.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want Monumental to be here, but we also don\u2019t just want to give up everything and the kitchen sink,\u201d Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie said. \u201cThis is not a rubber stamp of terms that we don\u2019t yet know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The meeting was met with a protest led by Save Chinatown Solidarity Network, which argued that if\u00a0the city has half a million dollars to finance a sports team owner, then the city should be investing in the several hundred residents in Chinatown and their businesses.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The District of Columbia Council allocated $515 million on Tuesday to revamp Capital One Arena in Gallery Place and Chinatown, aiming to create an entertainment hub. Concerns arise among councilmembers following Mayor Muriel Bowser&#8217;s preliminary deal with Ted Leonsis, CEO of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, regarding the project&#8217;s implementation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2542,"featured_media":2212208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/cap-one-arena-1024x596.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2212207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/cap-one-arena-1024x596.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2542"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2212207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2212208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2212207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2212207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2212207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}