New D.C. legislation plans to extend RFK Campus lease to 2088

By an additional 50 years—or to to 2088—Washington, D.C., Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is interested in extending the District’s lease on the Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Memorial Stadium. As first reported by Washington Business Journal, Norton introduced the legislation to extend the lease with hopes to bring long-term stability to the neighborhood.

This bill is also driven by the RFK Stadium-Armory Campus’s planned redevelopment with a variety of community amenities expected to arrive over the next two to five years. These amenities include a market hall, sports and recreation complex, pedestrian bridges, and parkland.

In a statement, Norton said, “The RFK Stadium site is in dire shape and has gone well past its intended lifespan; it would be an absolute shame to continue to let such valuable and usable land go to waste. My bill will give D.C. the necessary stability and certainty required to get financing to bring the site into the 21st century.”

The current owner of the 190-acre RFK Stadium is Events DC, and the lease states that the property can only be used for sports or recreation purposes, according to Washington Business Journal. RFK Stadium currently houses the D.C. United team, which plans to move to Buzzard Point’s new Audi Field stadium by 2018.

In April 2017, Mayor Muriel Bowser sent a two-page letter to President Donald Trump, asking for the federal government to turn over the RFK Stadium-Armory Campus to the District. The President has yet to respond.

• Norton introduces bill to extend D.C. lease on RFK campus [Washington Business Journal]

• Norton Introduces Bill to Extend D.C.’s Lease of RFK Stadium Site by 50 Years to Allow for Redevelopment [Eleanor Holmes Norton Official Website]