After reading this new WaPo article on the “rosy” assumptions behind Glenn Youngkin’s deal with Ted Leonsis for a new arena in Potomac Yard, I couldn’t agree more with Sen. Louise Lucas on this:
“I am flabbergasted about the [information] that continues to surface as proof that the Glenn-Dome at Potomac Yard is a bad deal for Virginia. No-brainer and anybody with 2 cents worth of common sense would agree.”
What Sen. Lucas is referring to is stuff like this:
- “the financing plan assumes thousands of fans will pay $75 for parking, the teams’ owner will host 53 more events annually in Alexandria than it did last year at its current D.C. arena, and a new luxury hotel will book rooms at a ‘historically unprecedented’ rate of $731 a night.“
- “Those forecasts require the state to collect $75 per parking space during sports games and concerts — far more than parking generally costs in the region — and $30 to $50 for other events.”
- “Monumental also projected that its 2,200 underground spaces would be filled before fans park elsewhere, despite there being more affordable lots that exist nearby.”
- “To get to 221 events, Monumental projected that it would host 133 concerts and other events annually beyond NBA and NHL games at the new arena. But of the eight comparable arenas, only Madison Square Garden in Manhattan — ‘an iconic venue in the nation’s largest market’ — hosted that many last year, according to MuniCap.”
Does any of that seem reasonable to you? (if so, what are you smoking? LOL) And the problem, of course, is that “Under the terms of the agreement, taxpayers in Virginia and Alexandria would be on the hook if revenue were too low to cover the debt.” Why would lawmakers sign on to this? Got me…
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