Caps/Wizards to move to Alexandria (Arlington, Springfield: real estate, apartments, rent)

[ersatz]

Today, Va Gov Glenn Younkin and Monumental Sports and Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis announced that the Caps and Wizards will move from the Washington DC Capital One Arena to a new $2B sports and entertainment venue to be built in the Potomac Yards area of Northern Alexandria, near the new metro station, Virginia Tech Campus, and Amazon HQ2.

https://www.alxnow.com/2023/12/13/ju...-potomac-yard/

DC and VA both competed for it - apparently VA won. This is going to cause a huge revenue gap for DC in an increasingly blighted area near the current Capital One arena. All assessments agree that the new location will steeply increase local traffic in an area already legendary for traffic jams. The agreement still has to be approved by the Virginia legislature but is expected to break ground in 2025 and complete in 2028.

Want to bet whether DC is going to mount a legal challenge? Y'know, like VA is challenging the FBI HQ relocation to Greenbelt vice Springfield?

[NC211]

You can’t support such causes as defund the police, free bus rides, soup kitchens, open drug use, unchecked crime, and not expect the deep pocket investors to stick around for very long. What has been allowed to occur around Gallery Place and the surrounds by DC’s leadership, cannot not be ignored here. I personally know some of the investors in that immediate area, and they are preparing to take massive losses because of what has happened to the area, like north of $100,000,000 and beyond type of loses.

I hope this serves as an example across the country to our other similarly governed cities as a shot across their bow for what can happen if they don’t clean up and protect the cities and law-abiding citizens they are sworn to serve. This Gotham City social experiment over the last 3 years needs to come to an end.

[ersatz]

Originally Posted by NC211

You can’t support such causes as defund the police, free bus rides, soup kitchens, open drug use, unchecked crime, and not expect the deep pocket investors to stick around for very long. What has been allowed to occur around Gallery Place and the surrounds by DC’s leadership, cannot not be ignored here. I personally know some of the investors in that immediate area, and they are preparing to take massive losses because of what has happened to the area, like north of $100,000,000 and beyond type of loses.

I hope this serves as an example across the country to our other similarly governed cities as a shot across their bow for what can happen if they don’t clean up and protect the cities and law-abiding citizens they are sworn to serve. This Gotham City social experiment over the last 3 years needs to come to an end.

There was a very interesting recent article in the WaPo a couple days ago with some freakish statistics in it. Recently DC prosecutors indicted 10 individuals for carjacking. In 2018, the District passed the Youth Rehabilitation Act, which allowed judges to impose much lighter sentences for juveniles convicted of violent crimes and expunge their records after they are released and are not caught reoffending within a certain time period. At the time, carjackings averaged around 200 per year. With each year, the rate has skyrocketed. There were more than 1000 in 2022. 62% of convicted carjackers were younger than 18 at the time they committed the felony.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md...t-dc-maryland/

[S6T1R]

Excellent win, Governor Youngkin and thank you Mr. Leonsis! Virginia is the best of the DMV, by far.

And DC is a rat infested, crime ridden ****hole. Real shocking that it’s run by liberals.

[ecko_complex24]

More billionaire welfare and tax increases for the middle class. Thanks Youngkin!

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by S6T1R

Excellent win, Governor Youngkin and thank you Mr. Leonsis! Virginia is the best of the DMV, by far.

And DC is a rat infested, crime ridden ****hole. Real shocking that it’s run by liberals.

Then why don't you expect Alexandria and next-door Arlington to be in the same condition?

[ecko_complex24]

Originally Posted by robbobobbo

Then why don't you expect Alexandria and next-door Arlington to be in the same condition?

They are both wealthier locales than DC. For the record, I don’t classify DC as being this way, just answering as to why that could be the case. There is a river separating DC from Arlington and Alexandria and both areas are Uber wealthy and have a large educated populace.

Tbh, I laugh at people who think DC is some s-hole. Much of DC matches Arlington and Alexandria in these same metrics.

[NC211]

Originally Posted by ersatz

There was a very interesting recent article in the WaPo a couple days ago with some freakish statistics in it. Recently DC prosecutors indicted 10 individuals for carjacking. In 2018, the District passed the Youth Rehabilitation Act, which allowed judges to impose much lighter sentences for juveniles convicted of violent crimes and expunge their records after they are released and are not caught reoffending within a certain time period. At the time, carjackings averaged around 200 per year. With each year, the rate has skyrocketed. There were more than 1000 in 2022. 62% of convicted carjackers were younger than 18 at the time they committed the felony.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md...t-dc-maryland/

Exactly! I know three people who have kids in their 20’s that each rent one of those fancy new apartments around the ballpark area, who now live back home out in Loudoun because of the crime. One was mugged, one was car-jacked, and the other left because she was just afraid of being assaulted after dark. BILLIONS of dollars poured into that area over the last decade to build all of those high-end apartments and amenities, now considered a dangerous place to be, all because of the soft crime position. DC is in BIG trouble here. What was once considered to be the safest place to invest in commercial real estate in the country (thanks to the stability of the federal work force and growing private sector anchors), is now a market that many investment committees for debt and/or equity simply will not engage on anymore. You lose the flow of corporate America revenue stream, and things head south quickly. It’s not all Bowser’s fault either, she is pinned in the corner by the federal government, but she is responsible for the crime wave.

[NOVAmtneer82]

Bowser holds plenty of blame for the crime wave (it's so bad Fox 5 has brought back 'City Under Siege' specials to talk now about daily murders, carjackings, etc) but plenty more goes to the SJW members of the City Council. People such as Charles Allen who supported decriminalizing fare evasion on the Metro and seem to have no issue with people robbing stores blind along with letting hard core criminals back out on the streets...I am excited for Alexandria / NoVA in general with this. I know there is already NIMBY support lining up comparing this to the baseball and football stadium fights of the 90s- a lot has changed since then. Alexandria is screaming for additional revenue thanks to the exodus from the office and this area has already been approved for millions of square feet of development.

[Mutiny77]

You’ve probably heard about the crime in Washington lately. It’s become a national story. Yes, it’s bad. According to the Metro Police Department’s crime data, violent crimes are up by 40 percent year over year. Homicides are up by 34 percent. Robberys are up by 69 percent. It’s very easy to feel unsafe these days. It’s specifically bad in the Chinatown area where Capital One arena is located...

But don’t get it twisted — crime would just be a convenient excuse. Cash is the reason Leonsis is leaving the city.For years, he’s complained about his $36 million mortgage payment that he pays for Capital One Arena. He’s also asked the city to foot the majority of the bill on an $800 million renovation project for the arena — a proposal D.C. has always firmly rejected. That’s where this is all rooted.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2023/12/ted...-virginia-move