President Biden Signs Off on RFK Stadium Bill in DC

A return of the Washington Commanders. Housing. Recreation.

It’s all on the table after President Biden signed a bill giving the District of Columbia control of the RFK Stadium campus, the Washington Post reported.

The legislation crawled through Congress, brought along by a late push in the Senate. The negotiations led to a tentative agreement for an appraisal of the site’s land, which would lead the city to make improvements of an equivalent value to National Park Service land.

The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act gives D.C. administrative control of the campus for 99 years, while the federal government retains ownership. The campus spans more than 170 acres and is viewed as a major redevelopment opportunity for the district.

One idea is to lure the NFL’s Commanders back to the campus; the playoff-bound franchise plays its games in Landover, Maryland. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is a vocal proponent of the Commanders’ return and team owner Josh Harris has hinted at interest in the possibility.

The next step is for the federal government to transfer control to the city, a process that should conclude in the next 180 days. Following that, D.C. and the U.S. Secretary of the Interior will negotiate terms and conditions and sign a memorandum of understanding that will put the transfer costs in the hands of D.C.

Looming in the distance is the potential for a fight over funding a development plan with a stadium component. The use of taxpayer money would require D.C. Council approval; a grassroots coalition is building opposition to a stadium in favor of housing and other community needs.

Bowser said the district could “do it all.”

— Holden Walter-Warner