- 11 hours ago
WUSA9's Eric Flack joins to provide updates on the Commanders new stadium developments.
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00:00He is an Emmy-winning chief investigative reporter over at WUSA-TV9.
00:06He's been all over the Commander's new stadium for well over a year.
00:09Eric, thanks for a few minutes on Grant and Danny.
00:12It's been a minute. How are you?
00:13It has been a minute. Miss you guys. How are you guys?
00:16Doing very well, buddy. Good to catch up.
00:18So yesterday there was some news on the Commission of Fine Arts
00:22and their preliminary approval. Give us the details.
00:25Yeah, the remaining hurdles for the stadium to get approved are basically design approvals
00:31from the National Capital Planning Commission and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.
00:35CFA had a meeting yesterday where they did, in fact, give preliminary site approval to the stadium.
00:42But I think the headline was there's still pushback to a couple different parts of the stadium design.
00:49One, some of the commissioners don't like the entrances.
00:52And this is something that has come up with the NCPC as well, the other federal commission.
00:59They just don't like the way they're designed.
01:02And ultimately, they have to keep on going back to the designers to have them change those entrances.
01:08But two, there's this issue with both federal regulatory agencies about one of the two parking garages
01:16and the placement of the parking garage, which right now is along the Anacostia River in Kingman Park.
01:21And the federal panels think it could block the view of the stadium and are pushing for the team
01:29and the designers to move it to the Festival Plaza, which is right there along East Capitol Street,
01:34which is not something that the team seems interested in doing at this point
01:39because that's where a lot of the mixed-use retail is going to go.
01:43So these are issues that they're kind of working through as they go back and forth.
01:47The team has seemed willing to be open to hearing the ideas from all these federal panels.
01:52But nothing has been set in stone.
01:54So there's still some back and forth with the design.
01:57Eric, my 8-year-old had a – we're doing this little summer basketball league for he and his buddies,
02:01just people getting together in the AC to shoot some hoops.
02:05It's not a big deal.
02:05Well, and one of the parents had a friend from out of town that was visiting the D.C. area,
02:11right?
02:11So they came to the game, too, and they were all going to go out to dinner.
02:13And she was asking me, what's it like to live in D.C.?
02:16I actually showed them your story because I go, this is what this is.
02:21And she's like, what do you mean?
02:22And I go, I've never heard of this CFA.
02:25But all of a sudden, everybody wants a stadium.
02:28Everyone's agreed the stadium is happening.
02:29And an agency that I've never heard of now can go yes or no to certain elements of it.
02:35It's a never-ending, chale-tasting maze of bureaucracy and oversight.
02:40And no one knows who's in charge.
02:42If you're just a regular dude, just tell me when I can buy my tickets.
02:45Welcome to Washington, D.C.
02:47And, I mean, what I found interesting is that these people, like, they're really serious about this.
02:54Like, especially the CFA, the guy who has really given the commanders and HKS the design from the business,
03:02is like a big-time architectural professor at Catholic University.
03:06And so they had already, like, the funny thing was it was like the first time they came in and
03:11presented,
03:12especially about these entrances where this capital club, one of these ritzy premium levels is going to be.
03:19They had already told him they didn't like it.
03:21And you could see the HKS guy in the meeting was very proud of what they had done to address
03:28the concerns of the CFA.
03:31And the CFA guy was basically like, no, that's not good enough.
03:35I literally felt like I was back in high school at Landon, and the teacher told me to go rewrite
03:41the paper,
03:41and I brought it back to them, and the teacher was like, yeah, this still sucks.
03:45That's basically what happened at this meeting.
03:48So the commanders now have to go back.
03:51The entrances, they're really tied up about these entrances.
03:56Both commissions are really thinking these entrances to the stadium are not what they need to be.
04:03So I don't know what to tell you, but they really don't like the entrances, Danny.
04:07That's funny.
04:08Eric Flack is with us.
04:09So we did get more images.
04:11It seemed like more moving pictures and videos and things of what the stadium could look like.
04:16How authentic is that?
04:18How gospel should I take all that?
04:19I mean, they keep on warning that all of these are conceptual renderings.
04:27For instance, there was one of them I put out which showed what the mixed-use retail on Festival Plaza
04:34could look like walking into the stadium.
04:37The team mocked that up to show the commissioners that they could, in fact, not move a parking garage there
04:45next to the Festival Plaza,
04:46which was kind of the idea.
04:48But they kind of warned that all these things are mock-ups and renderings.
04:53If you look, and you can look online on my X or whatever, there's a cool – what I think
05:01is a cool picture is the interior image from what was referred to as the Capitol Club,
05:08which is the revised west entrance.
05:11And that kind of, like, looks out onto East Capitol Street.
05:15You can see the Capitol and Washington Monument off in the distance.
05:20I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to afford to go into that section, but I really
05:24hope that one day I can because it looks really, really cool.
05:27What I have been told is that the interior – I think the exterior renderings are very, very similar to
05:35what it's ultimately going to be.
05:37And they are changing as these commissions tell the design firm what they want and what they don't want.
05:44I've been told the interior renderings we're going to get possibly in early 2027, I think.
05:52So we could still be some time before we get the interior renderings.
05:57Those interior renderings likely go public when they start selling PSLs, which also happens in early 2027.
06:07The team has licensed, rented out some space down in Foggy Bottom.
06:11They're going to have this big, huge business office as well as one of these PSL super offices, which is
06:20what teams do now.
06:22They have these tricked-out offices where you come down and basically get a virtual look at what your PSL
06:29seat would look like.
06:32And I think we'll get more interior, true interior looks at what the stadium is going to be when we
06:39get into that PSL sales phase, which, again, isn't until early next year.
06:46Eric Flack with us here on GND.
06:48Eric, by the way, great joke about having to write papers at Landon.
06:50And we all know you didn't do that.
06:52You just wrote La Crosse down on a paper, and you got an A.
06:55But in all sincerity, the parking garage, that's always going to be the sticking point.
07:00I remember with Nats Park, it's now kind of like urban legend that there was, you know, the deal said
07:06the parking garage will be done.
07:07And then they said, yeah, that'll be fine.
07:09And then you'll have a view of the Capitol.
07:10And you did for a year, and then they built a parking garage in left field, and now you can't
07:14see the Capitol anymore.
07:15I mean, so there's always like this sort of backdoor type stuff.
07:17I think that's going to be the biggest sticking point here when it comes to, you know, kind of the
07:23nuts and bolts of everything getting out.
07:25I think design can sort of get figured out.
07:26But this garage, there are two diametrically opposed sides.
07:30One one's tailgating and parking.
07:31The other one's none of that stuff and no cars anywhere.
07:34Just sort of where does that settle right now?
07:36A hundred percent.
07:37A hundred percent agree with you that even when they were like fussing over the design, the guy on the
07:44CFA on this commission was like, I really like the design.
07:47You know, I just think you need to make it better.
07:49This parking garage thing seems to be a thing because they both groups say the parking garage is in the
07:58wrong location.
07:59And the team in its presentation to the CFA yesterday, by the way, the team basically knew this criticism was
08:07coming because it was made at the last hearing and kind of made a presentation without being asked about why
08:14the parking garage can't be moved.
08:16And ultimately, these commissioners tabled the discussion to another day.
08:21But what they said was they have intentionally put the parking garages on two different sides of the stadium because
08:31the traffic and getting fans in and out of those parking garages has to be set up that way.
08:38And a lot of people think that's already going to be a nightmare traffic wise, even though there's a limited
08:44amount of parking spaces, 8,200, I think something like that.
08:48It's already going to be a nightmare.
08:49So they said they kind of have to have them where they are because they've already figured out the traffic
08:55flow and the ingress and the egress and all the things.
08:58And and but but the commissioners like so the team had said that and kind of volleyed it back to
09:05the the CFA commissioners.
09:07And the commissioner basically was like, I'm not going to talk about this right now.
09:11We need to hear from the city.
09:13It wasn't like, oh, I get you.
09:15That makes sense.
09:17And it was like, we're going to talk about this just not today.
09:21But the team, I cannot I don't I mean, I don't know for a fact, but I talk to people
09:26with the team.
09:27Like, I don't think they're going to move the parking garage like that sounds like a pretty big deal to
09:32me.
09:32So, like, I don't think it's going to hold up the stadium.
09:35But I do think that it's something that is the biggest unresolved question mark.
09:41When are they expecting to break ground?
09:43I know they're 2027 early 2020 early next year.
09:46So we don't have like a date, though, just sometime.
09:49We don't we don't have a date.
09:50That'll be a whole thing.
09:51But but they're going to do like I was out there yesterday for a live shot.
09:55I mean, it is flat.
09:56It is a flat.
09:57It looks like it has been completely dismantled now.
10:00Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:01It looks like a site grant that that is ready to have something built on top of it.
10:06Like, you know, like site preparation, it looks like a clean slate and they got to do a lot of
10:12work underground and they got to get permits to work underground.
10:15And I think some of that is going to happen this fall.
10:18But like the official shovel in the ground and like we'll cut a ribbon and do all the things is
10:25is is like next next spring sometime.
10:29And, you know, I said and I think they're still going to have some sort of like a goodbye to
10:33RFK ceremony.
10:35I heard that like through some of the people at the station here who have been talking to events, D
10:40.C., which seems a little bit late because RFK is already gone.
10:44But 2027 is when they're going to officially break ground.
10:47So and Eric Flack is with us of Channel 9 in town.
10:50That West Entrance view that you talked about with the U.S. Capitol and the monument, Nats Park at one
10:57point had a view of everything, too.
10:59And then some things get built in the end and it all goes away.
11:03What do we know about like is that that view always going to be there?
11:07Yes, because, I mean, you can't the CFA.
11:11What happened? I mean, I think part of what happened with Nats Park is remember they just you could build
11:16more stuff up around Nats Park.
11:19And I think if a memory serves like the angles just got bad, like you're not going to be able
11:24to put anything like CFA.
11:28They say that the same group that is making them do all this stuff would be able to block anything
11:34that would go up between the view of the Capitol and the Washington monument and the stadium.
11:42And they've been super intentional, meaning these federal panels, about really taking their jobs seriously when it comes to making
11:53sure that this stadium, it fits into the fabric of the community down there and fits into the fabric of
12:03Washington, D.C.
12:04and fits into the fabric of the monuments, because this is supposed to be in that monument kind of like,
12:09you know, vein.
12:10So, like preserving the sight lines, particularly, I mean, they're already talking about preserving the sight lines from the Anacostia
12:20River through Kingman Park.
12:22They want the parking garage moved out of the way.
12:24So, I mean, certainly they're going to preserve the sight lines.
12:27And so I would guess and bet that like those are pretty safe and those are going to actually be
12:35real things.
12:36Eric, what's the next CFA?
12:38And what I mean is I had no idea about this step.
12:41It was one of those, all right, now they're just working out a couple things and shovels in the ground
12:45whenever they're ready.
12:46I didn't know about this one.
12:47What's the next one of these that I go, oh, they have to get that approval?
12:51I promise.
12:52Well, actually.
12:53Right.
12:54I mean, that it's going to go to right.
12:55Like, you got to get permits.
12:57You got to get permits to do all the work.
12:59Right.
12:59So, I guess you got to go through like, you know, this is federal ground.
13:03You got to go through the permitting process.
13:05But these are like the last approvals that has to happen.
13:11You know, the stadium itself is on solid ground with federal reviewers.
13:15I do think we have to like, let me double punch that because these are all fun things to talk
13:21about.
13:21Like, the NGPC is going to approve this.
13:23The CFA is going to approve this.
13:26But there's just unresolved questions on how all of this gets approved.
13:32I think the only thing fans would have to worry about is just the process being delayed.
13:37Because the longer they have to go back and forth on parking garages and whether or not the west entrance
13:46is too imposing to viewers and neighbors,
13:51the longer it takes to start getting the permits so we can put shovels in the ground and make it
13:58by 2030.
14:00They told the group yesterday that the stadium is supposed to be completed.
14:05This is the first time I heard this by early 2030.
14:08That would give you time to have a concert.
14:12And a lot of these big stadiums do this.
14:14Like, the commander's opening or the commander's, like, you know, like, preseason game or the commander's week one game will
14:22not be the first event, likely, that's in this new stadium.
14:25They'll have a concert.
14:27They'll have a couple of other events to kind of be like a soft opening.
14:32That often happens.
14:33So, I heard they told this group early 2030 for this thing to be done.
14:38But, like, the longer we go round and round with these federal panels, you know, the more that timeline gets
14:46kind of hinky.
14:47Yeah, tighter up against the football season, maybe, that we go.
14:52Last one for me, Eric.
14:53Have you done any reporting on or are you up on the PSL situation?
14:58We're starting to hear some numbers.
15:00What do you want to know?
15:01Well, what kind of numbers are we looking at on that?
15:04So, what I've been told is that we don't know.
15:07Okay.
15:08I did a story, like, and I haven't reviewed the story because it was, like, last year, comparing it to
15:14the most recent numbers in Nashville.
15:16And they're astronomical.
15:17I mean, you can get into a – and this is other stadiums.
15:21But, like, you're going to get – you're going to pay, like, you know, five grand or something for upper
15:27deck PSLs, maybe five to ten.
15:30But when you're talking about lower deck PSLs, you know, you're talking about, you know, five digits, ten thousand, tens
15:41of thousands of dollars.
15:43This – based on the design plans that the team has submitted as part of these approval processes, we know
15:55there's going to be a club suite level, a capital club level, an owner's level, which is not where Josh
16:04Harris sits.
16:04It's just a VIP level, an owner's level, and then something called a pocket suite level.
16:12So, there's suites, and then all the new stadiums have something called pocket suites, which are, like, mini suites.
16:19Like, you're not a baller company, so you don't have an entire suite, but you have enough money where you
16:25and a bunch of buddies are going to go in on, like, a smaller suite.
16:27So, like, there's all different PSL levels, and the team, as part of what they gave to the city, which
16:36released, like, a master plan, there was a number out there that said they were going to generate X amount
16:41of, like, $975 million from PSLs or whatever the figure was.
16:46But that's not set in stone.
16:47So, my understanding from the people I'm talking to is that they are still kind of working out, like, what
16:54the PSL structure is going to look like.
16:57We won't know for sure until early 2027 when they start rolling out, you know, this whole, like, full-court
17:06press mixing metaphors on selling these tickets what the numbers are going to look like.
17:12But it is hard to imagine that they will not be the highest-priced PSLs, one would think.
17:21One would think.
17:22I have no sourcing on that.
17:23I can't tell you that.
17:25But, you know, you would not have to be an investigative reporter to figure out that the PSLs in 2030
17:34for the Washington commanders were going to be more than the Tennessee Titans and very much would likely be in
17:44line with what they're doing out in Vegas, which are pretty eye-popping numbers.
17:49Metro-wise, Stadium Armory, the last we hear is, yeah, can't accommodate it.
17:53We're not going to be able to build a new one a little north of there, but we'll do some
17:56buses from Union Station.
17:57All right, on the next thing.
17:58We figured it out.
17:59It just doesn't seem adequate to me.
18:01And the amount of people they're trying to talk about getting down there, not even on game days, Eric, but
18:05for kind of the general day-to-day, just seems to be a lot of cracks in that plan.
18:11And I don't know.
18:11I'm just kind of raising my hand going, are you guys sure?
18:13Yeah, no second Metro station has been approved or funded.
18:19I mean, they're going to have upgrades to Stadium Armory and additional Metro bus service.
18:25And they want to have pedestrian access and expanded bike connections.
18:30And they're going to have an Uber pickup.
18:32But, again, that's a vehicle traffic.
18:35I don't know how it's going to work, Danny.
18:37Like, I really don't.
18:39I am all in on the stadium.
18:41You know, I'm a D.C. guy.
18:43I think it's going to be awesome.
18:46But just from a practical perspective, I think they have a lot to figure out how they're going to get
18:52people in and out on game days.
18:55I really, really do.
18:57And things can get better over time.
19:00But, you know, they've got a lot of work to do.
19:03And they're doing the work.
19:05And we've got time.
19:06But there are a lot of unanswered questions there.
19:10Like you said, garages, parking, like transportation still remain huge question marks with this stadium.
19:19Eric, thank you.
19:21Good information.
19:22Always enjoy chatting.
19:23Always learn when you come on.
19:25I appreciate you guys.
19:26Thank you, buddy.
19:27Eric Flack, Channel 9 award-winning reporter with the latest on the stadium.
19:31Next, our position group a day stopping through the defensive side of the ball.
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