ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Discussions over Monumental Sports and Entertainment moving the Washington Capitals and Wizards from Capital One Arena to Potomac Yard continue, after the official announcement Wednesday.
On Saturday morning, dozens of Alexandria residents spoke at the open portion of a City Council meeting, hoping that councilmembers would hear their concerns.
Potomac Yard resident Dan Heng moved to the neighborhood in November from Gallery Place in the District, right across the street from Capital One Arena. He tells us that he hadn't even unpacked his boxes yet when the move was announced.
"This feels like a little bit of a slap in the face because you have a year worth of planning of a secret arena project," he said.
Heng is first and foremost concerned about the traffic at Potomac Yard.
"Route 1 gets snarled when the airport is busy. It gets snarled when it's rush hour," he explained.
On top of that, he's had experience dealing with fans on game days.
"Traffic is a nightmare when Capitals games or Wizards games let out, and fans are not always the most courteous people to live around," he said. "They’re not invested in the community around Capital One Arena."
So by moving to Potomac Yard, he had hoped to get away from those crowds and also - put some roots down in Virginia.
"That was part of the draw actually, is that there would be new community development there. There would be the opportunity to put my stamp on my new neighborhood," he explained.
On the flip side, Alexandria resident Michael Schuster hasn't made a decision yet on where he stands on this project. He said he wants to hear more from both sides, but for the moment, he does see the positives of bringing the Capitals and Wizards to Potomac Yard.
"It would help in two aspects," he explained. "I’m concerned about taxes. It might help our tax base so it would help taxpayers in Alexandria and there’s an element dealing with affordable housing and if that really comes to fruition, it would help a lot of low and moderate income residents of Alexandria."
But the two sides to agree on at least one thing - these conversations need to keep happening.