ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The first of four scheduled listening sessions, about the proposed move of Monumental Sports & Entertainment from Capital One Arena in D.C. to Potomac Yard in Alexandria, was held Thursday night.
The topics were financial proposal and economic impact.
Several Alexandria City officials as well as financial advisors for the city and a representative from Monumental Sports were on the call.
They spent the first 20 minutes going over the economic impact findings. They say they believe this move would bring close to 30,000 jobs and nearly $8 billion in revenue to the Commonwealth.
Mayor Justin Wilson previously told WUSA9 of the overall $2 billion of investment from this project, 42% will be financed by Monumental, 53% will come from a portion of the new tax revenues generated by the project, and 5% will come from the city itself.
Since the session was a webinar, no one was able to ask questions out loud, but they were able to submit questions.
The panel answered what they described as some of the most popular questions. They said every question that was asked both during and after the session will be answered. They said the answers will be posted here.
One question was how will the city make money if the arena is owned by the Commonwealth and therefore exempt from paying real estate taxes?
The panel said taxes on things like admission, parking and purchases both in the arena and through neighboring businesses will more than cover it.
"It's hard to imagine another use that generates as much use tax," said Stephanie Landrum, the President & CEO of the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP).
"If we've got something that is bringing people into Alexandria, to eat at our residents to stay in our hotels. Those are dollars coming in that are not coming from our residential homeowner. They're not coming from our existing residents and I think that's important for the entire business community," said Kendel Taylor, the Interim Deputy City Manager and Director of Finance for the City of Alexandria.
The city says, along with partners involved in the project, they are committed to listening to and understanding the needs and concerns of the community. They continued by saying that there is a shared goal of bringing to life a collective vision for Potomac Yard, as well as creating exceptional experiences and regional economic growth for decades to come.
- Biweekly Public Updates
- When: Starting Tuesday, Jan. 8 and will continue every other Tuesday until March 26
- Details: The city and other project partners will share new information to the public during city Council legislative meetings, including upcoming engagement opportunities, reports from the General Assembly, and more with community members.
- Weekly Virtual Listening Series
- When: Starting Thursday, Jan. 18 from 7-8 p.m.
- Jan. 18 will cover financial proposal and economic impact
- Jan. 25 will cover schools, housing and other community benefits
- Feb. 1 will cover transportation and traffic management
- Feb. 8 will cover small business and economic opportunity
- Details: The City of Alexandria will hold weekly virtual listening sessions on Thursday nights covering multiple topics.
- When: Starting Thursday, Jan. 18 from 7-8 p.m.
- City Council Town Hall
- When: Saturday, Jan. 27 at 9:30 a.m.
- Details: City Council will host a Town Hall that will include a short presentation on the project as well as Councilmembers answering submitted community questions, concerns, and feedback.
The city will work with civic and business organizations to coordinate project presentations and listening sessions to gather community input.