Fingers got pointed pretty quickly at the mayor. When Bowser finally got wind that the teams were slipping away, she could only come up with a $500 million counteroffer for the renovations that Leonsis wanted (his price was $600 million). Mark Warner (D-VA), Virginia politicos had been cooking up the deal for the better part of the past year. Glenn Youngkin to move the teams across the Potomac River to Alexandria, a Northern Virginia suburb.Īccording to Sen. With Washington residents already thundering for Mayor Muriel Bowser to step up and do something, it was the perfect time for the next best-worst development, the announcement that Wizards/Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, a billionaire nearly three times over, had scored a deal with Republican Virginia Gov. But take away all that, and what one sees is empty storefronts, flash mob robberies (Chanel got hit last week, complete with shots fired), loiterers, and drug sales outside entrances to one of the city’s busiest subway stations. The December holiday market brings in more people for the annual seasonal makers’ showcase.

On game nights, crowds fill up the downtown’s remaining bars and eating places near the arena and the nearby federal buildings. needs a pacemaker.Īs winter blows in and the tourist hordes scatter, some of the few attractions regularly bringing in the pre-pan type crowds to the restaurants, bars, and retail shops that survived COVID-19 are the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals, the beloved but fair-to-middling basketball and hockey teams that play at the Capital One Arena. More federal employees will be returning to their offices in the new year. Right now, however, only a third of federal employees trek into their offices most work a combo of remote and hybrid schedules.

The federal government and its worker bees are the beating heart of the downtown economy. Unlike eds-and-meds powered places like Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, or the ultimate everything bagel that’s New York, Washington is a one-industry town. Washington is more than Instagram-worthy Smithsonian museums and monuments, but downtown D.C., only blocks from the fabulous National Mall, can’t quite compete. Glenn Youngkin as they announce plans for a new sports stadium for the teams, December 13, 2023, in Alexandria, Virginia. Ted Leonsis, left, owner of the Washington Wizards NBA basketball team and Washington Capitals NHL hockey team, shakes hands with Virginia Gov.

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