LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — WUSA9 has confirmed four confirmed potential sites for a new Washington Commanders stadium, and one of them is in Loudoun County. But if Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder wants to build his new stadium on the old Loudoun Quarries, right on the border between the Sterling and Broad Run Districts, Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors will have to clear the way for the development.
“Whenever there is a commercial entity that wants to come to Loudoun, I'm always willing to take the meeting,” said Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Phyllis Randall. “And so of course, we will then take the meeting and have a conversation with the team.”
Randall said she recently met with team officials, but has not seen any specifics on what the Commanders Stadium Complex would look like. According to internal team documents, first obtained by WUSA9, the stadium blueprints in Northern Virginia includes training facilities and team offices, a 14,000-seat amphitheater, hotels and a conference center, apartments, retail and nightlife venues.
But Randall added with the billion-dollar Northern Virginia bond financing plan winding its way through the state legislature, and two other Prince William County sites still in play, serious talks in Loudoun County are far off. Yet, the stadium complex under consideration seems to be in line with the county’s desire to spur economic development along WMATA’s Dulles Corridor Metrorail project, which is planned to bring metro service close to that Loudoun County stadium site.
“That's the first thing that's really, really important, and that is where it's located would be on the metro,” Randall said. “And I will tell you, when the board, two boards ago, approved the metro, they had in mind big developments and big things.”
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WUSA9 was first to report Prince George's County is also in the game for a new Commanders stadium, with plans to build it in Landover near FedEx Field, but this time with better access to the Morgan Boulevard Metro station.
Sources tell WUSA9 the state of Maryland is working on a bond financing plan of its own, potentially setting aside hundreds of millions of dollars for development around the potential new stadium but not to help Snyder finance the stadium itself. During a meeting with reporters Tuesday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said there is no way he’s getting in a bidding war with Virginia.
“I think they’re using everybody back and forth, as they have been for eight years,” Hogan said. “They’re negotiating, trying to pit everyone against each other, but we’re not going to get over a bidding war over them and we’re not going to be proposing $1.2 billion to build them a stadium. If Virginia wants to do that, and they want to go and do that, I would say, ‘good luck.'"
Randall said any potential stadium talks in Loudoun County would include “deep and long conversations with the community,” while noting the Board of Supervisors would have to approve all the zoning changes required to clear the way for a football stadium. Still, Randall said she is ready to explore any ideas that will spur economic growth in her county.
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“According to U.S. News and World Report, Loudoun County has the best economy in the country,” Randall said. “So, we're always open for business.”
D.C. leaders remain split on the idea of a new Commanders Stadium at the old RFK site in southeast D.C., and with the federal government still in control of that land, chances the team returns to the District are extremely slim.